All three major US indexes ended the choppy session modestly lower on the first day of August, on the heels of the S&P 500’s and the Nasdaq’s largest monthly percentage gains since 2020.
The report follows a swath of data from Europe and Asia that showed factory activity slowing or contracting in the face of dampened global demand and persistent inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 46.73 points, or 0.14%, to 32,798.4, the S&P 500 lost 11.68 points, or 0.28%, to 4,118.61 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 21.71 points, or 0.18%, to 12,368.98.
Crude prices headed lower as global factory data weighed on the demand outlook, and as market participants braced for this week’s meeting of OPEC and other oil producers concerning world crude supply.