Stocks Pare Losses; Weak Data, Falling Oil Eyed

U.S. Market
Stocks pared losses this morning, but off to a weak start after disappointing data and as oil prices headed lower.

Personal spending was flat in December from the previous month according to a report from the Commerce Department released this morning. Incomes were up 0.3% in the month. Economists had expected a 0.1% rise in spending and a 0.3% gain in incomes. The PCE price index, which is the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, was off 0.1% in the month. Prices were up only 0.6% year-over-year. Excluding food and energy, prices were 1.4% higher year-over-year.

The closely-watched ISM index, which tracks the strength of the U.S. manufacturing sector, rose slightly to 48.2 in January from 48 in December. Any reading below 50 indicated a contraction in the sector.

Oil futures headed lower today as hopes faded that Russia and OPEC were going to cooperate on output cuts.

At midday the Dow and Nasdaq were down 0.2% while the S&P 500 was off 0.3%.

Stocks on the Move
Shares of Sysco (SYY) were up 7% this morning after the firm reported better-than-excepted results. The food distributer said it earned 48 cents per share in the quarter, up from 27 cents in the year-ago quarter and well above the 41 cents expected by analysts.

Abbott Labs (ABT) announced this morning that has agreed to buy diagnostic test firm Alere (ALR) for $5.8 billion. The purchase price represents a more than 50% premium to where Alere shares were trading on Friday. Abbot shares fell 1.4% on the news.

Foreign Markets
European markets were lower today. The FTSE 100, Germany’s DAX and Paris CAC were down 0.5%, 0.6% 0.8% respectively.

Asian shares were mixed on the day. The Shanghai Composite dropped 1.8%, the Hang Seng was off 0.5% while the Nikkei 225 gained 2%.