US stocks dip as Hong Kong weighs on sentiment

Wall Street stocks Monday finished lower as a heavy week of US economic data got under way while investors eyed political unrest in Hong Kong.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 17,071.09, down 42.06 points (0.25 percent), but well above the session low of 16,934.43 early in the day.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost 4.98 (0.25 percent) at 1,977.87, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 6.34 (0.14 percent) to 4,505.85.
The Commerce Department reported that US consumer spending rose 0.5 percent in August, while personal income increased 0.3 percent. An index of US pending home sales dipped 1.0 percent to 104.7 in August.
Markets were unnerved by massive street protests in Hong Kong that sent equities in the Asian financial hub 1.9 percent lower.
Brent Schutte, market strategist at BMO Global Asset Management, predicted more big swings like that seen Monday and last week.
"We're in a volatile period and it's going to stay that way," he said.