U.S. stocks decline, Fed meeting eyed; Dow Jones down 0.22%

Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened lower on Monday, as investors remained cautious ahead of a highly anticipated German court ruling later in the week, while markets hoped for fresh easing measures by the Federal Reserve.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.22%, the S&P 500 index edged down 0.13%, while the Nasdaq Composite index slipped 0.28%.

Investors remained cautious ahead of a German court ruling on the constitutionality of the euro zone’s bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism on Wednesday.

Sentiment also weakened after official trade data showing that Chinese imports fell unexpectedly by 2.6% from a year earlier, while exports grew just 2.7%, below expectations, added to concerns over a global economic slowdown.

But sentiment remained supported after the European Central Bank unveiled details of its bond purchasing program, which is aimed at lowering the borrowing costs of peripheral euro zone members.

Meanwhile, markets were also eyeing the outcome of the Fed’s policy meeting on Thursday, after disappointing employment data on Friday fueled fresh speculation that the U.S. central bank may announce a third round of quantitative easing to boost growth.

Oil major BP was on the upside, with shares adding 0.12%, amid reports it is in talks to sell some of its Gulf of Mexico oil fields to Plains Exploration & Production for around USD7 billion, as the U.K. oil firm looks to raise money to pay for damages from the 2010 oil spill.

Transocean fell 0.15% on the other hand, after saying that it is selling 38 of its shallow-water rigs to Shelf Drilling International for about USD855 million.

Financial were broadly higher, led by Bank of America, up 1.14%, and followed by Citigroup, whose shares climbed 1.09%, while JP Morgan rose 0.10%.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier that JPMorgan was considering smaller bonuses for CEO James Dimon and other executives, while Citigroup was also rethinking executive pay structure.

Only Goldman Sachs saw shares decline, dropping 0.31% in early U.S. trade, amid reports it and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners have proposed a debt-for-equity swap for CVC's Australian television network Nine.

The deal would wipe out CVC's equity and pass control to its lenders.

Elsewhere in company news, AIG tumbled 2.21% after the Treasury Department said it will sell most of its stake in the insurer, making the government a minority investor for the first time since it bailed out the company nearly four years ago.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed. The EURO STOXX 50 dropped 0.44%, France’s CAC 40 fell 0.28%, Germany's DAX inched up 0.02%, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.04% higher.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.13%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index eased 0.03%.

Trade looked likely to remain subdued on Monday, with no significant economic data releases on the calendar.