Stocks Ended Lower ahead of Earnings

U.S. stocks ended lower on Monday as investors awaited second-quarter earnings that start trickling in this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 44.05 points, or 0.26%, to 17,024.21. The S&P 500 lost 7.79 points, or 0.39%, to 1,977.65. The Nasdaq Composite shed 34.4 points, or 0.77%, to 4,451.53.

In the wake of last week’s surprisingly strong June jobs data, a growing number of economists are predicting the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than the market expects. Now count Jan Hatzius, the influential chief economist at Goldman Sachs, as the latest economist to throw his hat into that ring.

U.S. agribusiness Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has agreed to buy Swiss-German natural ingredient company Wild
Flavors for 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) to enter the flavouring and the health-conscious food sectors.

Box Inc. has bought itself some breathing room as it waits for a more suitable time to hold an initial public offering. The online-storage startup has raised $150 million in funding from private-equity firm TPG and hedge fund Coatue Management.