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Commodities were hit by a sell-off on Monday on the growing belief that the economy won't be strong enough to lift demand as much as expected. Oil prices plummeted to 64.05 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after touching a five-week low of 63.40 dollars. The contract has lost about 8 percent in the first three sessions this month.
Energy shares and basic material stocks led the big board lower. Exxon Mobil Corp. fell 91 cents to 67.58 dollars a share, and Occidental Petroleum Corp. fell 1.58 dollars to 61.70 dollars. Alcoa shares slid 6.09 percent to 9.26 dollars, while Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. plunged 6.62 percent to 46.43 dollars.
Technology shares slid as investors moved into areas that could provide safety in a struggling economy. Oracle Corp. fell 37 cents to 20.67 dollars, while Apple Inc. fell 1.41 dollars to 138.61 dollars.
Stocks pared some of the early losses on a better-than-expected report on the nation's service sector. The Institute for Supply Management posted that its services index read 47 in June, up from44 in May, showing the sector contracted at its slowest pace in nine months.
Investors also closely looked at the upcoming earnings season, which will be kicked off by Dow component Alcoa Inc. this Wednesday.
In corporate news, a bankruptcy judge says that General Motors Corp. can sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, potentially clearing the way for the automaker to emerge from bankruptcy protection.
The Dow Jones rose 44.13, or 0.53 percent, to 8,324.87. Broader indexes turned mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 2.3,or 0.26 percent, to 898.72, while the Nasdaq fell 9.12, or 0.51 percent, to 1,787.40.