Stocks Start Week in Reverse

In other corporate news, automakers were releasing their monthly sales data. Ford (F Quote) posted an unexpected 0.4% increase in November sales, and General Motors (GM Quote) said U.S. sales fell 11% last month. GM lost $1.22, or 4.1%, to $28.61.

One of the notable winners was Activision (ATVI Quote), which soared 12.7% to $24.97 on word that Vivendi will acquire a controlling interest in the gamemaker for $9.8 billion. The companies will create a new firm, Activision Blizzard, which will trade under the Activision ticker. In total, the deal is being valued at $18.9 billion.

As for the economic front, the Institute for Supply Management said its factory index declined to a reading of 50.8 last month from October's 50.9.

"Manufacturing has slowed substantially, but is not so weak that recession is imminent," said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist with High Frequency Economics. "At this level, output will be weak and capital spending will be very subdued, but orders have not collapsed."

U.S. Treasury securities were rallying. The 10-year note was up 18/32 to yield 3.87%. The 30-year bond added 28/32 in price, yielding 4.33%. The dollar was weaker against the euro and the yen.

After falling nearly 10% last week, crude prices dropped as low as $87.20 before erasing the decline. Oil finished up 60 cents at $89.31 a barrel. Gold and silver futures also traded higher.

Overseas markets were mixed. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.1% overnight, while Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3%. Among European bourses, London's FTSE 100 lost 0.7%, and Germany's Xetra Dax was off 0.4%.