U.S. stocks meandered sideways Monday as fears about Europe overshadowed recent excitement about central banks' efforts to boost the market.
Stocks opened lower, recovered by mid-afternoon to nearly flat and closed down modestly.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 20.55 points, or 0.2 percent, to 13,558.92.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 3.26, or 0.2 percent, to 1,459.89.
The Nasdaq composite index dropped 19.18, or 0.6 percent, to 3,160.78.
For the year:
The Dow is up 1,341.36 points, or 11 percent.
The S&P 500 is up 199.29, or 15.9 percent.
The Nasdaq is up 555.63, or 21.3 percent.
