Dow Closed Down Triple Digits

U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, the first day of trade of the year, weighed by renewed concerns of global economic slowdown and increased tensions in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 276.09 points, or 1.58%, to 17,148.94. The S&P 500 closed 31.28 points, or 1.53%, to 2,012.66. The Nasdaq Composite was down 104.32 points, or 2.08%, to 4,903.09.

Growing tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran fueled volatile trading on Monday, with oil prices ultimately finishing lower as traders worried that an unstable political situation in the Middle East would complicate the outlook for oil in 2016. February West Texas Intermediate crude shed 28 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $36.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

U.S. construction spending fell in November for the first time in 17 months, reflecting weakness in spending on hotel and other private nonresidential construction and government projects. Construction spending dipped 0.4 percent in November following a 0.3 percent increase in October, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

General Motors Inc (GM.N) and Lyft Inc on Monday set out plans to develop an on-demand network of self-driving cars as the U.S. No. 1 automaker announced it would put $500 million into the ride-sharing service’s latest $1 billion fund-raising round.