August 05, 2013- Stocks Close Lower on Low Trading Volume as Investors Remain Cautious

After seeing some strength last week, treasuries turned in a lackluster performance throughout the trading session on Monday. The major averages showed modest moves for much of the session before eventually ending the day mixed. While the Dow and S&P 500 pulled back off last Friday's record highs, the Nasdaq closed modestly higher. The Nasdaq inched up 3.36 points or 0.1 percent to 3,692.95, while the Dow dipped 46.23 points or 0.3 percent to 15,612.13 and the S&P 500 slipped 2.53 points or 0.2 percent to 1,707.14. The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders continued to digest last Friday's monthly jobs report, which showed weaker than expected job growth but a drop by the unemployment rate. The mixed jobs report has generated some uncertainty about the outlook for the economy as well as the Federal Reserve's asset purchase program. Traders were also presented with a report from the Institute for Supply Management showing that activity in the U.S. service sector grew at a faster rate in the month of July.