Stocks slip on global growth concerns

"Stocks twelve months from now will have outperformed cash and Treasuries once again," predicts Robert Doll, BlackRock senior advisor, offering a plan for investors as the fiscal cliff looms?

By NBC News wire services

Updated at 9:35 a.m. ET: Stocks slipped Monday, extending last week's decline as weak European data caused investors to question the prospects for global growth.

German business sentiment dropped for a fifth successive month in September to its lowest level since early 2010, showing the strongest of Europe's economies is succumbing to a downturn despite the European Central Bank's ambitious bond-buying plan.

Equities have advanced sharply in recent months on expectations for central bank stimulus. On September 6 the ECB announced its bond-buying plan and a week later the Federal Reserve announced a third round of quantitative easing intended to bolster the economy and reduce U.S. unemployment.

With the S&P 500 up more than 7 percent so far this quarter, investors have sought new catalysts to push shares decisively in one direction or the other. Moves have been slight and volume light. The S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent last week, and the session with the biggest move was a 0.3 percent decline in the index.

"We've had such a strong quarter that it's difficult for us to keep moving up, especially since we're so light on economic news to trade on," said Oliver Pursche, president at Gary Goldberg Financial Services in Suffern, New York. "We're maybe in a sideways market without a lot of action for a while."

The composition of the Dow changes on Monday, with the inclusion of UnitedHealth Group. The health insurer replaces Kraft Foods, which is splitting into two companies: Kraft Foods Group and Mondelez International.

Energy stocks will be in focus as crude oil fell 1.3 percent, continuing a drop of more than 6 percent last week as investors question the demand outlook.

"Oil is trending down because of slowing growth, and I wouldn't expect that to change in the short term," Pursche said. "However, I don't think it's so cheap yet that we'll see a real impact on consumer spending."

Apple Inc will look to extend a rally that took the most valuable U.S. company to an all-time high share price. The rally came as Apple launched the latest version of its iPhone worldwide, generating blockbuster sales.

U.S. stocks closed flat on Friday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://marketday.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/24/14067312-stocks-slip-on-global-growth-concerns?lite

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