Stocks fell Monday due to concerns about U.S. automakers, questions about the Bernard Madoff scandal, and anticipation of Tuesday's interest-rate decision from the Federal Reserve (Fed). Investors have been focused on the three U.S. automakers since the Bush administration said last week that it could offer General Motors and Chrysler loans from the $700 billion rescue fund Congress set aside for Wall Street. Analysts said the market also was trying to understand the Madoff scandal. Madoff, a money manager, was arrested last week on charges that he started a $50 billion pyramid scheme that defrauded companies and investors around the world. The Fed's policy-making committee is meeting Monday and Tuesday to discuss interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to cut a key by at least a half-percentage point to 0.5 percent. Some analysts expect a bigger reduction to 0.25 percent. In economic news, the Fed reported that U.S. industrial production fell in November. Capacity utilization was 75.4 percent, down from 76 percent the previous month. A second report showed that homebuilders' confidence stayed at a record low in December due to the weak U.S. economy. Light sweet crude oil for January delivery fell $1.77 to $44.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after rallying as high as $50.05 in the morning. Oil prices had risen on beliefs that OPEC would lower output when it meets in Algeria later this week. The U.S. dollar fell to an eight-week low versus the euro and traded near a 13-year low versus the yen. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 65.15, or 0.75 percent, to 8,564.53. Shares of troubled automaker General Motors rose, but several financial stocks retreated, including Citigroup, J.P. Morgan Chase, and Bank of America. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 11.16, or 1.3 percent, to 868.57. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 32.38, or 2.1 percent, to 1,508.34. Shares of Apple, Yahoo, Oracle, Dell, and Applied Materials fell. The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 46.06 to 5,497.90. The American Stock Exchange composite index fell 0.69 to 1,319.09. And the Russell 2000 index fell 15.86 to 452.57.
