Budget Stalemate Sends Stocks Lower

U.S. stocks fell on Monday, extending two weeks of losses, as a stalemate on Capitol Hill
over preventing a government default persisted. The Dow industrials lost 136.34 points, or
0.90%, to 14,936.24. The S&P 500 index shed 14.38 points, or 0.85%, to 1,676.12. The
Nasdaq Composite declined 37.37 points, or 0.98%, to 3,770.38.

U.S. consumer credit rose more than expected in August, but a third straight month of
decline in credit card usage was consistent with recent tepid consumer spending. Total
consumer credit advanced by $13.63 billion to $3.04 trillion, Federal Reserve data showed
on Monday.

Telecom equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent plans to reduce its staff by 10,000 as part of a
cost-cutting drive to save 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) by 2015, Les Echos and Le Figaro
newspapers reported on their websites on Monday.