U.S. blue chips were lower on Monday, with United Technologies Corp. weighing on the Dow Jones industrial average United Technologies was down 3.4 percent after rival aircraft engine maker General Electric Co. was named the engine supplier in a $15 billion Airbus aircraft order from Qatar Airways. United Technologies shares slipped to $52.56 on the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters said. Among gainers, shares of Morgan Stanley opened up 3.6 percent to $51.67 on the NYSE after the company's embattled chairman and chief executive, Philip Purcell, said he plans to retire as soon as a successor is named. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 36.95 points, or 0.35 percent, at 10,475.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 3.50 points, or 0.29 percent, at 1,194.61. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.85 points, or 0.19 percent, at 2,059.15. Investors are eagerly awaiting Tuesday's report on U.S. producer prices, a key measure of inflation, said Dean Gulis, vice president at Loomis Sayles & Co. of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. If the Producer Price Index comes in as expected -- down 0.2 percent excluding volatile food and energy prices -- it would "ease concerns about the potential for additional Fed tightening," Gulis said. --More 0003 Local Time 2103 GMT
