Stocks fall amid recession worries

NEW YORK — Investors retreated again Monday as investors around the world grow pessimistic about how quickly the economy’s can recover.

Following the lead of stock markets around the world, investors took their cues from the tumbling price of oil. Oil hovered around $64 a barrel on the growing belief that the economy won’t be strong enough to lift demand as much as expected.

Oil had been steadily rising in recent months on growing expectations that the economy was going to be stronger, therefore pushing demand higher.

Last week, oil hit an eight-month high above $73 a barrel. But there have been creeping signs recently that the economy was not as robust as investors hoped. And last week’s weaker than expected reading on consumer confidence and the Labor Department’s report of larger than expected job losses intensified investors’ doubts about a recovery.

A barrel of crude traded at $64.01, down $2.72 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In the first half-hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 26.30, or 0.3 percent, to 8,254.44. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4.06, or 0.5 percent, to 892.36. The Nasdaq composite index fell 8.27, or 0.5 percent, to 1,788.25.

Overseas markets also fell.

U.S. markets are catching up after being closed Friday for the July Fourth holiday. On Thursday, stocks fell sharply in response to the Labor Department employment numbers. The major indexes all dropped more than 2 percent.

Investors will get a reading on the U.S. service sector.

They are also awaiting the start of second-quarter earnings reports. They’re hoping to see whether companies’ results and their forecasts for the rest of the year yield clues about the economy. U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. opens earnings season on Wednesday.