Stocks closed lower Monday in response to European political uncertainty and signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy. In international news, French President Nicolas Sarkozy came in second in the first round of elections behind Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, who has been publicly hostile to EU austerity measures. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte resigned, which put the country's prized AAA rating in jeopardy. News of a slowdown in China's manufacturing sector also contributed to investors' apprehensiveness at the start of what will be a busy week on the economic and earnings front. In U.S. economic news, the biweekly Lundberg Survey showed that average gas prices continued to retreat farther away from the $4 level. The survey marked the first decline of the year, which further raised hopes that gas prices might have already peaked for the year. The dollar gained against the euro and the pound, but fell against the yen. Light sweet crude oil for June delivery slipped 77 cents to $103.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures lost $10.20 to $1,632.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industry average declined 102.09, or 0.78 percent, to 12,927.17. The broader Standard and Poor's 500 index fell 11.59, or 0.84 percent, to 1,366.94. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index decreased 30.00, or 1.00 percent, to 2,970.45.
