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NEW YORK - UNITED States stocks fell for a fourth session on Monday, led by a widening sell-off in technology stocks on worries about business spending, while a drop in oil prices hit shares of energy producers. Persistent concerns about the potential for more credit losses also took the wind out of an attempted recovery in the shares of financial services companies in the last hour of the session, causing the Dow to reverse an earlier advance. The day's biggest decliners represented a 'Who's Who' of the year's best performers, including Apple and Google, whose decline capped the Nasdaq's longest downward streak in three months. 'If the economy does slow down, many manufacturers and financial institutions, in particular, will not be upgrading their technical systems' and consequently, won't be buying a lot of tech supplies and tech support, said Mr Ron Kiddoo, chief investment officer of Cozad Asset Management, in Champaign, Illinois. 'That seems to be the main reason tech is being beaten down.' The Dow Jones industrial average slid 55.19 points, or 0.42 per cent, to end at 12,987.55. It was the Dow's first finish below the 13,000 mark since early August. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 14.52 points, or 1.00 per cent, to finish at 1,439.18. Monday's loss marked the S&P's longest losing in nine months. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 43.81 points, or 1.67 per cent, to 2,584.13. Apple shares finished down 7 per cent at US$153.76 (S$223.76) on the Nasdaq, while shares of Google slid for the fourth straight day, ending down 4.8 per cent at US$632.07. Shares of Exxon Mobil finished down 2.7 per cent at US$84.54 on the NYSE, pressured by the biggest drop in crude oil prices in two weeks. The stock was the biggest drag on both the Dow and the S&P 500. -- REUTERS
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