U.S. stocks closed lower Monday, as investors began to shift their focus from the country's fiscal problems to the outlook for corporate earnings. In U.S. news, aluminum producer Alcoa will be the first major firm to report its quarterly earnings after the closing bell Tuesday. Wells Fargo will release its results Friday. In company news, U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank and UBS closed higher, as bank stocks were in focus. Earlier Monday, federal regulators announced that 10 banks will provide $8.5 billion in relief for troubled homeowners and settle charges the banks mishandled foreclosures for 3.8 million borrowers in 2009 and 2010. Separately, Bank of America announced a $10.3 billion settlement with Fannie Mae to resolve repurchase claims on mortgage loans. The dollar moved higher against the euro and the pound, but fell lower versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery gained 10 cents to $93.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures dropped $2.60 to $1,646.30. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 50.92, or 0.38 percent, to 13,384.29. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 4.58, or 0.31 percent, to 1,461.89. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 2.85, or 0.09 percent, to 3,098.81.
