国际英语新闻：U.S. stocks end at session lows on economic unease

NEW YORK, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street fell on Monday, with major indexes ending at their session lows, as concerns over economic recovery overshadowed early deal excitement.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 39.21 points, or 0.38 percent lower, to 10,174.41, after climbing as much as 91 points in the morning session.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 4.33 points, or 0.40 percent, to 1,067.36 and the Nasdaq was down 20.13 points, or 0.92 percent, to 2,159.63.

Major index moved higher after the market opened on Monday as merge and acquisition activities boosted market sentiment in absence of economic data.

Hewlett-Packard offered 1.5 billion dollars, or 24 dollars per share, for data storage provider 3Par, just one week after rival Dell agreed to acquire the company for 1.13 billion dollars, or 18 dollars per share.

In other deal news, Potash Corp. rejected BHP Billiton's 38.5 billion dollar offer, saying both China's Sinochem Group and Brazil's Vale SA showed interests in the world's biggest fertilizer producer.

Separately, HSBC Holdings said it was in talks to buy a controlling stake in Nedbank Group Ltd., South Africa's fourth largest bank, from Old Mutual for as much as 6.8 billion dollars.

Traders see deal making as a sign of economic recovery because it means businesses are more comfortable spending reserves to expand their operations.

However, stocks turned negative after early enthusiasm over M&A faded. Weak economic outlook once again took hold in the market as investors were expecting a revision to second-quarter economic growth due Friday morning. Most economists were anticipating the GDP growth in the April-to-June period will be downwardly revised to 1.3 percent from 2.4 percent.

Monday's move came as the S&P fell to its lowest level in weeks after two days of straight sell-off. Investors have been struggling in recent weeks as positive company news and weak economic data provided mixed signals for the economy.

The U.S. dollar, however, was helped by the risk-averse trading environment due to its reputation as a safe-haven currency. The euro was declined from 1.2711 dollars to 1.2682 dollars in late New York trading.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery dropped 72 cents to settle at 73.10 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude lost 64 cents to settle at 73.62 dollars a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.