US close: Stocks end mostly in the red as trade data, IMF weigh

The S&P 500 ended 0.4% lower and the Nasdaq closed down 0.7%, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a 0.1% gain, boosted by DuPont.

The IMF cut its global GDP growth forecast to 3.1% for 2015, down from the 3.3% it projected in its July World Economic Outlook, as it highlighted a slowdown in China and weak commodity prices.

Meanwhile, figures published by the Commerce Department showed the US trade deficit jumped 16% month-on-month to $48.3bn in August, higher than the $47.1bn analysts had expected.

"Net trade will remain a drag on the real economy until well into next year. for the third quarter specifically, we estimate that real exports contracted very slightly, while real imports expanded by close to 4% annualised," said Steve Murphy, US economist at Capital Economics.

US equities had rallied on Monday, with the S&P 500 rising for a fifth consecutive session, as a series of economic reports appeared to take a hike in interest rates off the table for this year.

Earnings season on the way

In company news, the third-quarter earnings season gets unofficially underway when Alcoa reports after the closing bell on Thursday.

Pepsi gained after the soft drinks giant posted better-than-expected earnings per share and raised its forecasts for the year.

Chemical group DuPont surged after announcing late on Monday that its long-standing chief executive Ellen Kullman will retire on 16 October.

Freeport-McMoRan ended sharply higher after the mining and energy company said it was considering spinning off its oil and natural gas business into a separate company.

The dollar was up 0.6% against the pound, down 0.8% against the euro and 0.2% weaker against the yen, while gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,147.00.

Oil prices rose sharply, with West Texas Intermediate up 5.3% to $48.69 a barrel and Brent crude up 5.6% to $51.99 a barrel. The US Energy Information Administration estimated that domestic crude production dropped 120,000 barrels a day from August to September and trimmed its production forecasts to 8.8m barrels a day in 2016.

Crude also benefitted from reports that Russia and Saudi Arabia discussed the oil market last week and plan to continue discussing their views on demand, production and shale oil.

S&P 500 - Risers

Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) $26.60 +34.89%

Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) $3.82 +19.37%

Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $11.67 +12.54%

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $56.17 +8.42%

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $55.22 +7.68%

Noble Corporation plc (NE) $12.98 +7.45%

Transocean Ltd. (RIG) $15.75 +7.22%

QEP Resources Inc (QEP) $15.82 +6.68%

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK) $8.98 +6.65%

Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) $19.17 +6.20%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Avon Products Inc. (AVP) $3.64 -5.21%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $109.57 -4.32%

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $65.19 -4.30%

F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $117.96 -4.05%

Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $45.07 -4.02%

Molson Coors Brewing Co. Class B (TAP) $80.99 -3.88%

Celgene Corp. (CELG) $112.19 -3.80%

Aetna Inc. (AET) $108.83 -3.72%

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $275.99 -3.69%

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) $39.89 -3.62%

Dow Jones I.A - Risers

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $55.22 +7.68%

Chevron Corp. (CVX) $86.99 +3.52%

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $70.82 +2.37%

General Electric Co. (GE) $27.30 +1.79%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.74 +1.70%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $27.23 +1.42%

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $77.89 +1.41%

McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $101.90 +0.72%

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $111.31 +0.48%

Boeing Co. (BA) $134.63 +0.46%

Dow Jones I.A - Fallers

Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $116.08 -2.98%

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $49.78 -2.83%

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $32.80 -2.03%

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $93.42 -1.41%

Nike Inc. (NKE) $123.18 -0.88%

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $101.05 -0.80%

American Express Co. (AXP) $76.93 -0.48%

Home Depot Inc. (HD) $118.67 -0.44%

3M Co. (MMM) $145.73 -0.40%

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $65.69 -0.27%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $67.87 +4.59%

Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $18.22 +3.70%

Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $46.21 +3.06%

Sandisk Corp. (SNDK) $61.25 +2.99%

Viacom Inc. Class B (VIAB) $46.79 +2.93%

Symantec Corp. (SYMC) $21.00 +2.79%

Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.74 +1.70%

KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $52.47 +1.43%

NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $31.33 +1.42%

Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $27.23 +1.42%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $145.59 -10.77%

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $109.57 -4.32%

Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR) $65.19 -4.30%

F5 Networks Inc. (FFIV) $117.96 -4.05%

Celgene Corp. (CELG) $112.19 -3.80%

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $275.99 -3.69%

Avago Technologies Ltd. (AVGO) $117.14 -3.37%

Ross Stores Inc. (ROST) $47.69 -2.96%

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $459.48 -2.89%

Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $108.33 -2.62%