Listless Session Drops Most ETFs as Stocks Slide

Stocks and most exchange-traded funds slipped slightly Monday, despite mildly better economic news and a relatively strong showing for tech names.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 41 points to finish at 9779. The Nasdaq held its ground and picked up 5 points to close at 2138, and the S&P 500 ended down 4 at 1065.

Although the Conference Board’s index of leading indicators showed an August increase of 0.6%, the reading was lower than the consensus forecast of a 0.8% bump.

Oil and gold prices both dipped, affecting ETFs that trade off those commodity prices. The Nasdaq was the only major stock index to close in positive territory, bolstered by tech, health-care, consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks.

For a detailed rundown on Monday's trading session see our market story.

Shares of the Biotech HOLDRS Trust (BBH) rose 1.5% Monday as major holding Amgen (AMGN) notched slight gains. The tech-oriented PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ) stemmed the tide of a losing day, gaining 0.3% as the Nasdaq remained the sole index to finish in the black.

The slide in crude oil futures knocked shares of the United States Oil fund (USO) back 3.4% as prices dropped below $70 a barrel. Price fluctuations in gold left the metal at $1,004 an ounce after an early drop, but shares of the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) declined 1.7%.

Launching Pad
Exchange-traded fund provider Global X Funds filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch six new China-themed ETFs. The Global X Consumer, Energy, Financials, Industrials, Materials and Technology funds will track different sectors of the Chinese economy. The company said the funds will be 80% invested in American Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts, and 20% invested in swaps and options contracts.

The filing also said Global X Funds seeks to register seven more overseas-focused funds: Global X Denmark, Emerging Africa, Finland, Norway, Pakistan, Poland and United Arab Emirates.

Data Point
Pensions and Investments magazine reported Monday that large institutional investors played a major role in the 25% year-over-year increase of assets under management by exchange-traded funds. At the start of September, U.S. ETFs had $891 billion under management. Price plays a strong role in the growth of ETFs: The average ETF charges 0.32% a year, a drop of 20 basis points from 2006, according to Morningstar and Barclays Global Investors.

Earnings and Conference Calls
AAR, CarMax, Carnival, ConAgra Foods, FactSet Research Systems, Financial Federal Corporation, FreightCar America, H.B. Fuller, Progress Software, Versar

Economic Data
7:45 a.m. ICSC-Goldman Store Sales
8:55 a.m. Redbook
10:00 a.m. FHFA House Price Index