* Chinese stocks fall nearly 7 pct
* Oil falls below $70; Chevron, Exxon off about 1 pct
* Financials weigh after bearish analyst comments
* Dow off 0.7 pct, S&P off 1 pct, Nasdaq off 1.2 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click STXNEWS/US
(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Aug 31 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Monday as
concerns about the global economy's health weighed on Wall
Street, following a hefty sell-off in Chinese equities.
Energy shares led the decline after the sharp drop in
China's main stock index increased worries about a potential
rebound in global energy demand and oil slipped below $70 a
barrel.
Shares of Chevron Corp <CVX.N> tumbled 1.2 percent to
$69.81 and Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> dropped 0.8 percent to $69.56.
The S&P Energy index <.GSPE> was down 1.8 percent.
The Shanghai Composite index <> fell nearly 7 percent
to a three-month low on fears that China's government is
trying to moderate economic growth and choke off some
speculation in its stock market by tightening bank lending.
"China's decline is just scaring people," said Tim
Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management
in Bedford Hills, New York.
"The world is partially relying on China's economic growth
to bring us out of this recession, and given the decline in
China, there have to be concerns."
Stocks in China have risen steadily, up 91 percent for the
year at one point, despite the global recession. Commodity
prices often got a boost from an increased demand from China.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> was down 68.17
points, or 0.71 percent, at 9,476.03. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> fell 9.81 points, or 0.95 percent, to
1,019.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index <> dropped 23.54
points, or 1.16 percent, to 2,005.23.
The Bank of New York Mellon index of leading Asian ADRs
<.BKAS> fell 1.5 percent to 119.98 while U.S.-listed shares of
China Finance Online <JRJC.O> sank 2.1 percent to $9.40.
Financial stocks, which enjoyed a strong rally last week,
changed their course after a number of bearish notes from
analysts.
Rochdale Securities analyst Richard Bove wrote that in the
short term, "a reaction to the recent move up in the stocks
may develop." []
In addition, Barron's recommended profit-taking in
Citigroup <C.N> and said American International Group <AIG.N>
shares were overpriced after gaining more than 50 percent last
week. For details, see [] and []
Citi was down 3.8 percent at $5.03 while AIG dropped 10.7
percent to $44.88.
The weakness in energy and financial stocks overshadowed
the news of two large mergers on Monday.
Walt Disney Co <DIS.N> agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment
<MVL.N> for $4 billion, while Baker Hughes Inc <BHI.N> said it
would buy BJ Services Co <BJS.N> for $5.5 billion.
For details, see [] and []
Marvel shares soared 25.4 percent to $48.46, while BJ
Services' stock was up 4.6 percent at $16.15.
Also on Monday, the Institute for Supply
Management-Chicago's business barometer rose to 50.0 in
August. The level was higher than expected, and was on the
dividing line between growth and contraction in the sector.
[]
(Editing by Jan Paschal)
