U.S. stocks drift lower amid soft data

U.S. stocks fluctuated narrowly in the morning session on Monday, as the country's factory orders came out weaker than expected.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48.25 points, or 0.27 percent, to 17,744.50. The S&P 500 lost 6.07 points, or 0.29 percent, to 2,066.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 23.61 points, or 0.48 percent, to 4,890.94.

U.S. new orders for manufactured goods in February, down three of the last four months, decreased 8.0 billion U.S. dollars or 1.7 percent to 454.0 billion dollars, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Meanwhile, Wall Street was still sifting through Friday's key jobs data. U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment rose 215,000 in March, beating market consensus of 210,000, the Labor Department announced Friday. The unemployment rate in March edged up to 5.0 percent from February's reading of 4.9 percent.

In March, the average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 7 cents to 25.43 U.S. dollars, also above market estimates. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.3 percent.

Oil prices were also in focus, which traded lower around midday on Monday, as traders wondered whether top oil exporters could agree to rein in overproduction.

On Friday, U.S. stocks reversed early losses to close higher after the better-than-expected jobs data. For last week, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq surging 1.6 percent, 1.8 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively. Endit