Stocks trade mixed after euro touches a 4-year low

Stocks traded in a narrow range Monday after the euro touched another four-year low and markets in Europe dropped.

The Dow Jones industrials rose about 12 points in afternoon trading. The Dow slid 323 Friday to its lowest point in four months after the government's disappointing May jobs report.

A rise in the price of oil pulled energy stocks higher. Marathon Oil rose 2.5 percent, while Chevron rose 1.7 percent.

Bank stocks were mixed after a panel examining the financial crisis issued a subpoena to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission said Monday that Goldman wouldn't provide the documents. Goldman rose 4.8 percent.

Bank of America fell 1.8 percent after it said it would pay $108 million to settle federal charges that its Countrywide Financial Corp. division collected fees that were too high from homeowners nearing foreclosure.

The euro fell as low as $1.1878 before rising to $1.1956. A drop in the 16-nation euro is seen as a sign of flagging confidence in Europe's ability to rein in its debt without falling back into recession.

Hungary's government backed off statements it made last week that it was facing a similar debt crisis to Greece. The market tumbled Friday after the country's new government warned it could default. Hungary doesn't use the euro but European banks could be hit by bad loans if the country defaulted.

Questions over the health of Europe's economy dominated trading again. There are few U.S. economic reports due early this week that could ease concerns about the jobs report. Traders dumped stocks Friday after the Labor Department's employment report revealed that private employers hired far fewer workers in May than had been forecast.

Investors are concerned that budget cuts in Europe will stall a global recovery. The worries have pounded stocks since major indexes hit 2010 highs in late April. The Dow and broader indexes are down more than 10 percent from their peak, indicating a "correction." It's the first major drop since indexes bounced off 12-year lows in March last year. The Dow is still up 51.7 percent since then.

Jim Thorne, chief investment officer for equities at MTB Investment Advisers in Baltimore, said the market's retreat is overdone because traders are afraid they're seeing a repeat of the financial crisis of 2008. Thorne said even though the jobs report Friday was disappointing, most numbers have pointed to an economy that is rebounding.

"Right now the market is getting to the point where it's uninvestable. Fundamentals don't matter," Thorne said. "This is a period that will be looked back upon six to eight months from now as a wonderful investing opportunity."

In early afternoon trading, the Dow rose 12.62, or 0.1 percent, to 9,944.59. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.21, or 0.3 percent, to 1,068.09, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 7.29, or 0.3 percent, to 2,211.88.

Treasury prices were mixed after surging Friday on concern about the employment numbers. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, slipped to 3.20 percent from 3.21 percent late Friday.

The dollar was mixed against other currencies. Gold rose.

Crude oil rose 72 cents to $72.23 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Marathon Oil Corp. rose 40 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $31.10. Chevron Corp. rose $1.19, or 1.7 percent, to $72.47.

Among bank stocks, Goldman rose $2.03, or 4.8 percent, to $44.26, while Bank of America fell 27 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $15.08.

The government said Friday that private employers hired just 41,000 workers in May, down from 218,000 in April and the lowest number since January. It was a reminder to investors that while the economy is incrementally improving, the pace of recovery is not necessarily swift.

Advancing stocks narrowly outpaced those that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 612 million shares, compared with 698 million traded at the same point Friday.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 1.15, or 0.2 percent, to 632.82.

Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 1.1 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.6 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 1.2 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 3.8 percent in its first day of trading after U.S. markets tumbled Friday.