Stocks Pause after Six Days of Gains

U.S. stocks ended Monday’s session marginally lower, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average pausing after six straight days of modest gains. The Dow industrials shed 9.82 points, or 0.06%, to 16,937.26. The S&P 500 was off 0.26 point, or 0.01%, to 1,962.61. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.64 point, or 0.01%, to 4,368.68.

Sales of previously-owned homes rose in May, a sign the housing market strengthened during the important spring buying season. Sales of existing homes increased 4.9% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a rate of 4.75 million for the month.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday trimmed the Obama administration’s power to curb greenhouse gases under a
long-running air pollution program in a decision that means major facilities, including power plants and refineries, will go on being regulated as they have been.

The price of oil fell Monday as traders waited to see if an insurgency in Iraq would affect the country’s oil production and exports. Benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery dropped 66 cents to $106.17 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 69 cents to $114.12 a barrel in London.