Emerging Markets, Metals ETFs Fall

Stocks and exchange-traded funds plunged Monday amid concerns about liquidity in China and consumer confidence here in the U.S.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 161 points to drop to 9160. The Nasdaq was off 49 points to 1936 and the S&P 500 was down 21 to 983. Both indexes shed more than 2% during the trading session.

On Friday, consumer sentiment as measured by the Reuters/University of Michigan index was worse than expected, not much of a surprise given the gloomy July retail sales data and a slew of uninspiring results from retailers such as Wal-Mart (WMT) and Lowe's (LOW). Investors are now bracing for reports from Home Depot (HD), Saks (SKS) and Target (TGT), slated to be released on Tuesday.

European markets closed lower after Wall Street's precipitous slip. Asian markets also took a hit despite official word that Japan has exited the recession. Falling commodity prices and concerns over liquidity tightening measures by the Chinese government were blamed for the 6% drop in the Shanghai Composite index, with metal stocks hardest hit. The Hang Seng Index lost 3.6% -- a selloff that bit into emerging market and metals ETFs.

U.S. home builders are slightly more confident than they were in July, according to the latest sentiment index compiled by the National Association of Home Builders, which registered a minor uptick in August to 18 from 17. Yet, the data wasn’t exactly confidence boosting: Fewer than one in five builders believes the market is in good shape.

Crude traded on the Nymex was down 17 cents from its afternoon regular session close to $66.58 a barrel. For a detailed rundown on Monday’s trading session see our market story.

Short-term traders banking on market volatility fared well with the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index fund (VXX), which rose 5.3%. Treasurys were a safe harbor, as the iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond fund (TLT) rose 1.5%.

The SPDR S&P Metals & Mining fund (XME) dropped 6.2% on the global commodities selloff. The metals-heavy Market Vector Russia fund (RSX) also dropped 6.3%.

Earnings and Conference Calls
Analog Devices, Astro-Med, Candela, Cardinal Health, CDC Software, Easton-Bell Sports, Education Management, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, Key Tronic, Perrigo, Photronics, Saks, Solarfun Power Holdings, Target, Woodside Petroleum

Economic Data
7:45 a.m. ICSC-Goldman Store Sales
8:30 a.m. Housing Starts
8:30 a.m. Producer Price Index
8:55 a.m. Redbook