U.S. stocks mixed as growth concerns weigh; Dow Jones down 0.12%

Investing.com - U.S. stocks opened mixed in subdued trade on Monday, as investors remained cautious amid sustained global growth concerns, although a well-received Italian bond auction mildly supported sentiment.

During early U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.12%, the S&P 500 index edged down 0.10%, while the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.10%.

Sentiment weakened after official data showed earlier that Japan’s economy grew 0.3% in the three months to June, just half as much as expectations for a 0.6% expansion, from an upwardly revised 1.2% in the first quarter as export demand was hit by the euro zone debt crisis.

The data came hard on the heels of a report on Friday showing that Chinese exports dropped sharply in July, while imports also slowed.

Investor confidence found some support however, as Italy saw borrowing costs rise only slightly after it auctioned the full targeted amount of EUR8 billion of 12-month government bonds at an average yield of 1.69%, up from 1.55% previously.

JC Penney was among the session’s top losers, with shares tumbling 1.58%, after Piper Jaffray cut its rating on the company to "neutral" from "overweight" and slashed its price target to USD25 from USD50.

Also on the downside, Barnes & Noble saw shares drop 0.91% after it reduced prices on its Nook e-reader and tablet devices ahead of the peak of the back to school season and amid speculation that rival Amazon.com is preparing to launch a new version of its Kindle Fire tablet. Shares in Amazon edged down 0.07% following the news.

In the tech sector, Google jumped 1.23%, amid reports the company is planning to cut about 4,000 jobs at its Motorola Mobility Holdings unit, or 20% of the staff at the company it bought for about USD12.5 billion.

Adding to gains, financial stocks were broadly higher, led by Bank of America, up 0.65%, and followed by Goldman Sachs, with shares adding 0.17%, while Citigroup and JP Morgan edged up 0.14% and 0.05% respectively.

Citigroup was especially in focus on Monday, as it is being sued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. over securities sold to Colonial Bank. According to a Bloomberg report, the FDIC said that banks including Citigroup misrepresented the quality of loans underlying USD388 million of securities that Colonial bought.

Separately, Swiss private bank Julius Baer was reportedly set to buy Bank of America's Merrill Lynch private bank outside the U.S., paying CHF860 million to boost its assets under management by 40% and backing the deal with plans to raise CHF1.19 billion in new capital.

Other stocks likely to be in focus included Sysco, Groupon and mining company Iamgold, due to report earnings later in the day.

Across the Atlantic, European stock markets were mixed. The EURO STOXX 50 rose 0.28%, France’s CAC 40 inched up 0.07%, Germany's DAX edged 0.10% higher, while Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.24%.

During the Asian trading session, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.27%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index inched down 0.07%.

Trade looked likely to remain subdued on Monday, with no significant economic data releases on the calendar, while volumes were light with many market participants on summer holidays.