Stocks Drop for Fourth Day on Economic Worry

U.S. stocks extended their losing streak to a fourth straight session Monday, as lingering concerns about the U.S. economy pushed the market lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 61.30 points, or 0.50%, to 12,089.96. The S&P 500 fell 13.99 points, or 1.08%, to 1,286.17. The Nasdaq Composite ended down 30.22 points, or 1.11%, to 2,702.56.

There’s no denying that May was a disappointing month for the U.S. economy. Only 54,000 nonfarm jobs were created, the Labor Department has estimated, and a variety of regional and national manufacturing indexes have all seen sharp declines.The first opportunity for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to address the recent weak data will be Tuesday afternoon at 3:45 p.m., when he delivers a speech on the “U.S. economic outlook” in Atlanta, Ga. to the International Monetary Conference.

Oil fell below $100 a barrel Monday as investors and economists await a key OPEC meeting this week and the government’s outlook on U.S. supply and demand. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery lost $1.21 to settle at $99.01 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

President Barack Obama’s administration has granted nearly 1,400 waivers easing requirements of the new health care law, and some critics on the right say Obama is giving his political allies a pass from burdensome requirements everyone else will have to live with.

Apple Inc CEO Steve Jobs on Monday unveiled the iCloud, a music-streaming and online data storage service that can be accessed on devices from the iPad to the iPhone.