US close: Stocks finish mixed as oil losses continue

US markets ended a high volume day mixed on Monday, with oil prices continuing their slide from European trading, sending energy stocks tumbling while health care equities gained.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.2% at 17,705.91, the S&P 500 finished 0.08% higher at 2,058.69, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% at 4,750.21.

Health care led the advancers, closing almost 1% higher, with utilities and consumer staples following close behind. Mallinckrodt and Allergan led health care, closing up 6.12% and 5.98% respectively.

On the underperforming Dow, Caterpillar and Chevron led the decliners while Johnson & Johnson gained the most.

Boston Private Wealth chief market strategist Robert Pavlik said it seems like there is a lot of rotation going on, into the so-called safe havens.

"I think there's concern about the strength of the economy, the overall lag of the rally that's been occurring in oil. There's concerns about China as well. The dollar is stronger as well. That's certainly not helping the commodity space,” he said.

Oil had risen in Asian trading as the Canadian wildfires severely hampered that country’s oil sands output and as the market reacted to Saudi Arabia’s decision on Saturday to replace Ali al-Naimi with Saudi Aramco chairman Khalid al-Falih as energy minister.

Crude prices slipped into declines during the European session, and the trend continued through New York hours. West Texas Intermediate was last down 2.9% at $43.40 per barrel, while Brent crude lost 4.04% at $43.61.

On the monetary policy front, Chicago Federal Reserve president Charles Evans said US economic fundamentals are looking solid enough to support growth of around 2.5% this year, but he reiterated that the Fed’s overall wait-and-see approach remained appropriate.

Neel Kashkari, president of the Minneapolis Fed, also said the current stance was appropriate, with low rates helping to bring workers back to the market without putting pressure on inflation to rise.

San Francisco Fed president John Williams was due to make remarks after the closing bell.

S&P 500 - Risers
Mallinckrodt Plc Ordinary Shares (MNK) $59.85 +6.12%
Allergan plc (AGN) $213.71 +5.98%
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (CMG) $453.17 +4.46%
HCP Inc. (HCP) $35.99 +4.17%
Kroger Co. (KR) $35.84 +3.73%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $55.43 +3.36%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $64.45 +3.14%
Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) $39.74 +3.09%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $88.06 +2.95%
Baxalta Incorporated (BXLT) $42.35 +2.87%

S&P 500 - Fallers
United States Steel Corp. (X) $16.23 -14.08%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $10.52 -10.77%
Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $4.10 -10.68%
Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $9.96 -7.09%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $31.83 -6.74%
Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (DO) $23.20 -6.45%
National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) $31.42 -6.10%
Alcoa Inc. (AA) $9.46 -5.78%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $15.27 -5.57%
Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) $28.84 -4.94%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $68.95 +1.03%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $54.10 +0.93%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $113.72 +0.87%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $33.82 +0.71%
Visa Inc. (V) $78.22 +0.64%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $58.72 +0.50%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $132.67 +0.48%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $136.24 +0.40%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $110.81 +0.33%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $130.83 +0.19%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $70.78 -3.52%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $100.35 -1.48%
United Technologies Corp. (UTX) $100.09 -1.02%
Boeing Co. (BA) $132.10 -0.87%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $157.51 -0.84%
General Electric Co. (GE) $29.87 -0.83%
American Express Co. (AXP) $63.98 -0.82%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $29.80 -0.80%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $50.07 -0.64%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $61.21 -0.63%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Biomarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (BMRN) $83.98 +3.94%
Cerner Corp. (CERN) $55.43 +3.36%
Incyte Corp. (INCY) $72.86 +3.07%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $88.06 +2.95%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $40.77 +2.82%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $270.17 +2.49%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $102.42 +2.16%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $47.67 +2.08%
Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $58.16 +1.91%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $80.89 +1.84%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $23.43 -7.02%
Endo International Plc (ENDP) $15.27 -5.57%
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $208.92 -2.80%
Ctrip.Com International Ltd. Ads (CTRP) $43.29 -2.72%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $169.49 -2.56%
Liberty Media Corporation - Class A (LMCA) $19.00 -2.16%
Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $40.43 -2.15%
Liberty Media Corporation - Series C (LMCK) $18.59 -2.11%
Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) $37.15 -1.90%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $9.87 -1.20%