Stocks Close Lower Again

Stocks are closing lower for a second straight day as investors try to gauge the Federal Reserve's next move on interest rates, the AP reports. A strong US jobs report Friday dimmed investors' expectations that the Fed would cut its benchmark interest rate by as much as half a percentage point later this month. Many investors still expect a quarter-point cut. Shares of health care and technology companies led the decliners Monday. Apple dropped 2.1% and Merck fell 1.8%. Deutsche Bank dropped 6.1% after the German bank announced a massive restructuring. The S&P 500 fell 14 points, or 0.5%, to 2,975. The Dow Jones industrials lost 115 points, or 0.4%, to 26,806. The Nasdaq fell 63 points, or 0.8%, to 8,098. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies declined 0.9% to 1,561. (More stock market stories.)