NEW YORK, New York -  U.S. stock markets closed lower on Monday, with the major indexes showing mixed performances as investors digested a variety of economic signals and corporate earnings reports.

"Markets are already jittery and looking for a reason to take profits," Gene Goldman, chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management told Reuter Monday.

"Volatility is being driven by market uncertainty about whether we're facing a growth scare or an inflation scare," Goldman added.

The Standard and Poor's 500 (^GSPC) fell by 29.87 points, closing at 5,983.26, reflecting a loss of 0.50 percent. Trading volume for the day was 3.179 billion shares.

Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) posted a modest gain of 33.19 points, closing at 43,461.21, which represented an increase of 0.08 percent on a lighter trading volume of 587.506 million shares.

On the more tech-focused NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC), the sell-off was more pronounced as it lost 237.08 points, ending at 19,286.93, a drop of 1.21 percent. The number of shares traded on the index during the session stood at 6.091 billion.

 Overall, Monday's session underscored market uncertainty, with technology stocks leading the declines while more traditional industrials provided some counterbalance in a subdued day of trading. for 8 seconds.

U.S. Dollar on a Knife Edge on World Forex Markets

Global foreign exchange markets closed Monday with modest shifts as traders weighed mixed economic signals. The U.S. Dollar Index inched down by 0.02 points to 106.60 (-0.02 percent). 

The Euro edged up against the U.S. dollar, with the EUR/USD pair firming at 1.0466 after a modest gain of 0.10 percent.

The dollar also strengthened against the Japanese yen and the Canadian dollar, with the USD/JPY pair climbing to 149.69—up 0.31 percent—and the USDCAD pair trading at 1.4257 after a similar rise of 0.31 percent.

Conversely, the British pound struggled slightly, as the GBP/USD pair settled at 1.2626 following a minor decline of 0.04 percent, reflecting cautious sentiment amid ongoing economic uncertainties.

The greenback maintained a steady course against the Swiss franc, with the USD/CHF pair inching higher to 0.8968, recording an increase of 0.01 percent.

Across the Pacific, the Australian dollar weakened, with the AUD/USD pair sliding to 0.6349 after dropping 0.11 percent, while the New Zealand dollar also saw a marginal decline. The NZD/USD pair last traded at 0.5734, down 0.01 percent.

Global equity markets see gains in Toronto, Tokyo, Falls in London, Mumbai

Global markets closed Monday with a mix of modest gains and declines, as investors digested cautious sentiment across Europe, Asia, and beyond.

Canada

In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite index (^GSPTSE) managed to eke out a slight gain, adding 4.23 points to close at 25,151.26 (+0.02 percent), with a trading volume of 247.005 million shares.

UK and European Markets
In London, the FTSE 100 ended at 8,658.98, slipping by 0.39 points for a marginal change of -0.00 percent.

Across the continent, Germany's DAX P rallied to 22,425.93, rising by 138.37 points or +0.62 percent, while France's CAC 40 fell by 63.52 points to close at 8,090.99 (-0.78 percent).

The EURO STOXX 50 I also declined, finishing at 5,453.76 with a loss of 21.09 points (-0.39 percent). Meanwhile, the Euronext 100 dipped by 6.35 points to 1,587.06 (-0.40 percent), and Belgium's BEL 20 inched up by 1.57 points to settle at 4,406.96 (+0.04 percent).

Asian Equity Developments

In China, the SSE Composite Index ended the day at 3,373.03, down 6.09 points (-0.18 percent) on a trading volume of 3.984 billion shares, while Japan's Nikkei 225 bucked the trend by rising 98.94 points to finish at 38,776.94 (+0.26 percent).

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed at 23,341.61 after losing 136.31 points (-0.58 percent), and Singapore's STI Index eased down by 2.19 points to 3,927.75 (-0.06 percent).

India's S&P BSE SENSEX experienced a significant downturn, ending at 74,454.41 after a loss of 856.66 points (-1.14 percent). I

n Malaysia, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI declined by 6.78 points to close at 1,584.25 (-0.43 percent).

South Korea's KOSPI Composite Index also saw a dip, finishing at 2,645.27 after a 9.31 point decline (-0.35 percent), while Taiwan's TWSE Capitalization Weighted Stock Index fell by 164.94 points to 23,565.31 (-0.70 percent).

Oceania

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 recovered with a gain of 12.00 points to reach 8,308.20 (+0.14 percent), though the ALL ORDINARIES fell by 10.80 points, finishing at 8,560.10 (-0.13 percent).

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 INDEX GROSS was more subdued, dropping 220.86 points to close at 12,531.72 (-1.73 percent)

Middle East

Egypt's EGX 30 Price Return Index closed at 30,925.30 after losing 84.90 points (-0.27 percent) on a volume of 94.773 million shares.

Israel's TA-125 slipped by 16.53 points to settle at 2,538.22 (-0.65 percent).

African markets

South Africa's Top 40 USD Net TRI Index was softer, dropping 96.22 points to 4,678.84 (-2.02 percent).

Overall, Monday's session highlighted a global landscape marked by cautious optimism in some regions and more pronounced declines in others, setting the stage for a potentially volatile week ahead.