1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks retreat on soft data, oil decline

U.S. stocks ended lower amid falling oil on Monday, as the country's factory orders came out weaker than expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.75 points, or 0.31 percent, to 17,737.00. The S&P 500 lost 6.65 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,066.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 22.75 points, or 0.46 percent, to 4,891.79.

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.

Oil prices reversed early gains to end sharply lower Monday, with both U.S. oil and Brent crude tumbling over 2 percent, as traders wondered whether top oil exporters could agree to rein in overproduction.

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.

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to close higher Friday 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.

Overseas, European equities rallied Monday despite oil weakness. German benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose 0.28 percent, while British benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 0.30 percent.

In Asia, Japanese 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average inched down 0.25 percent Monday on the stronger yen, while Chinese stocks were closed for Tomb-sweeping Day. Endit