US stocks are mixed in morning trading

U.S. stocks drifted mostly lower in morning trading Monday, led by declines in energy stocks as the price of oil and other commodities fell. Investors were weighing the latest batch of company earnings and new data indicating China's economy grew at the slowest pace in six years.

Keeping score: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 34 points, or 0.2 percent, to 17,181 as of 11:11 a.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid three points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,029. The Nasdaq composite added nine points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,896. The market is coming off its third straight week of gains.

The quote: Sameer Samana, global quantitative strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute, noted that the S&P 500 index is up nearly 9 percent from its August low. "Now people are probably taking some profits and trying to figure out what the catalyst is to take us higher from here," he said.

Commodities' effect: Lower commodity prices helped pull down shares in oil companies and materials makers. Chevron shed $1.68, or 1.8 percent, to $89.61, the Dow's biggest decliner. Freeport-McMoRan gave up 34 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $12.10.

Rough quarter: Morgan Stanley slumped 6 percent after reporting a sharp drop in quarterly earnings as the bank's bond trading business weakened. The stock fell $2.05 to $31.90.

Big changes: Shares in Deutsche Bank AG rose 3.9 percent a day after Germany's biggest bank said it is restructuring its divisions and making changes to its management structure in an effort to streamline its business. The stock gained $1.02 to $26.99.

Oprah weighs in: Weight Watchers surged 88.2 percent on news that Oprah Winfrey is paying about $43.2 million for a 10 percent stake in Weight Watchers and is joining the weight management company's board. Winfrey also agreed to endorse the company's programs and services, and to help promote the company. Weight Watchers' shares climbed $5.99 to $12.78.

Upping the bid: PMC-Sierra climbed 13.6 percent on news that Microsemi has offered to buy the semiconductors company for about $2.4 billion, topping a bid from Skyworks Solutions. PMC-Sierra rose $1.41 to $11.65.

China growth: Data released Monday showed that China's economic growth decelerated in the latest quarter but relatively robust spending by Chinese consumers helped to avert a deeper downturn. The world's second-largest economy grew by 6.9 percent in the three months ended in September, down from the previous quarter's 7 percent and the slowest since early 2009 in the aftermath of the global crisis. Growth of 6.8 percent had been forecast by analysts.

Markets overseas: In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 0.6 percent, while France's CAC 40 dipped 0.1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 inched down 0.5 percent. In Asia, China's Shanghai Composite Index lost an early gain to end down 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended little changed. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.9 percent.

Energy: Benchmark U.S. crude fell 86 cents or 1.8 percent, to $46.40 a barrel in New York.

Bonds & currencies: U.S. government bond prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.05 percent. The dollar edged up to 119.45 yen and the euro fell to $1.1313.

By Alex Veiga, AP Business Writer. Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Gayly – October 19, 2015 @ 11am.