The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 8.70 points, or 0.07 percent, to close at 12,871.39. DuPont led the Dow laggards after Jefferies lowered its rating on the company to "hold" from "buy" and cut its price target to $55 from $62.
The S&P 500 added 3.35 points, or 0.25 percent, to end at 1,365.51. The Nasdaq gained 16.18 points, or 0.55 percent, to finish at 2,951.23.
The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, finished below 17.
Among the key S&P sectors, industrials led the laggards, while telecoms climbed.
On the economic front, the U.S. ISM manufacturing index contracted unexpectedlyfor the first time since July 2009, with the index sliding to 49.7 in June from May's 53.5. Economists had expected a reading of 52.0.
Meanwhile, construction spending rose 0.9 percent to an annual rate of $830.0 billion in May, hitting its highest level in nearly 2-1/2 years in May, according to the Commerce Department.
“It’s going to be a dangerous week—we’re going to have potential skeleton crews here [due to the Independence Day holiday on Wednesday],” said Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS Financial Services. “We’ve got big stuff going on—we’re going to get final details on Europe and we’re going to shift to employment—initial claims and non-farm payrolls.”
Growing expectations that more measures will follow, including a rate cut by the ECB this week, sent shares higher in Europe, but a disappointing PMI report out of Chinakept gains in check.
