U.S. market indexes were lower Monday. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 18120.17 for a loss of -3.63 points or -0.02 percent. The S&P 500 was also lower, closing at 2139.12 for a loss of -0.04 points or -0.01 percent. The Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5235.03 for a loss of -9.54 points or -0.18 percent. The VIX Volatility Index was higher at 15.57 for a gain of 0.20 points or 1.30 percent.

Monday’s Market Movers

 Stocks traded mostly flat on Monday with only the Housing Market Index on the economic calendar. The National Association of Home Builders’ Housing Market Index increased to 65 for the month. The Index was above consensus of 60 and up from 59 in the previous month.

On Monday investors watched oil prices and indicators for central bank policy at the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan. Oil prices gained slightly with optimism about OPEC’s unofficial meeting later this month. Indicators pointed to a potential increase in the federal funds rate from the Federal Reserve at its meeting this week. Meanwhile, Treasury prices gained and yields fell as the Bank of Japan’s central bank rates in negative range could cause further losses in yield for the credit markets.

Stocks trading actively for the day included the following:

Chesapeake Energy

Bank of America

Apple

Ford

Wells Fargo

Intel

General Electric

Frontier Communications

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the following stocks led losses:

Merck -1.53

Intel -1.35

Verizon -1.29

Apple -1.17

Wal-Mart -1.07

Pfizer -0.88

Sectors leading losses in the broad market included healthcare, consumer staples and technology. In technology the Nasdaq Composite closed lower at 5235.03 for a loss of -0.18 percent. The Nasdaq 100 was lower at 4796.07 for a loss of -0.46 percent. Stocks leading losses in the technology sector included the following:

Stericycle -3.99

TripAdvisor Inc. -2.10

PayPal Holdings -1.7

Expedia -1.59

Netflix -1.43

In commodities, gold traded higher as evidenced by the SPDR Gold Trust which reported a gain of 0.26 points or 0.21 percent. The dollar was lower for the day as the U.S. Dollar Index was down -0.17 points or -0.18 percent to 95.86.

Small-Cap Stocks

In small-caps, the Russell 2000 was higher at 1232.53 for a gain of 7.75 points or 0.63 percent. The S&P 600 Small-Cap Index was higher at 744.85 for a gain of 4.35 points or 0.59 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Growth TSM Index was higher at 7498.12 for a gain of 36.61 points or 0.49 percent. The Dow Jones Small-Cap Value TSM Index was higher at 8607.91 for a gain of 64.95 points or 0.76 percent.

Other Notable Indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 1532.39 for a gain of 11.43 points or 0.75 percent; the S&P 100 Index at 947.35 for a loss of -1.45 points or -0.15 percent; the Russell 3000 Index at 1267.09 for a gain of 1.22 points or 0.10 percent; the Russell 1000 Index at 1186.03 for a gain of 0.63 points or 0.05 percent; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 609.01 for a gain of 3.48 points or 0.57 percent.