S&P 500 has longest slump in 7 weeks on European crisis discord

Concerns about the slowing U.S. economy contributed to modest declines in the stock prices on Monday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.55 points to 13,558.92 and has declined in 15 of the past 16 Monday sessions. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 19.18 points to 3,160.78 and the S&P 500 Stock Index lost 3.26 points to 1,456.89.

The markets were weighed down by weakness in Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) shares. The stock fell $9.60 to $690.79 despite reports the company sold 5 million iPhone 5 devices over the past weekend, the biggest release of any Apple product.

Commodities were also lower. Oil fell 96 cents to $91.93 a barrel. Gold dropped $13.40 to $1,764.60 an ounce.

Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), the world’s largest social-networking service, decreased 9.1 percent amid concern the company’s stock is overpriced. U.S. Steel Corp. (NYSE: X), Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE: BTU) and Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) declined at least 1.6 percent after analysts downgraded the shares.

Global stocks slumped after Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande disagreed on a timetable for starting joint oversight of Europe’s banking sector. German business confidence unexpectedly fell in September. China’s manufacturers and retailers are less optimistic about sales than they were three months ago and are cutting jobs, according to a survey by N.Y.-based researcher CBB International LLC.

The S&P 500 last week had the first drop since August after European Union finance ministers failed to calm concern about the region’s debt crisis. The index was still up 16 percent this year amid better-than-estimated earnings, rising consumer confidence and home sales, and Federal Reserve stimulus. The S&P 500 briefly rose Monday amid gains in financial shares.

“I just think the market has an underlying bid between now and the start of the next quarter as the quarterly allocation process should strongly favor equities,” said Michael Shaoul, chairman of N.Y.-based Marketfield Asset Management, which oversees $3 billion. “It will take something quite significant to derail the rally between now and then.”

Measures of semiconductor and computer companies led the losses in the S&P 500 among 24 groups. Evercore Partners Inc. (NYSE: EVR) cut its estimates for the personal computer industry. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) retreated 2.2 percent, the most in the Dow, to $17.21. Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) lost 1.4 percent to $22.80, the lowest price since November.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOR) tumbled 37 percent to $19.08 after disclosing the company’s marketing practices are being investigated by the U.S. government.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: PPHM) plunged 78 percent, the most ever, to $1.16. The biotechnology company said the survival rates from its lung cancer study reported earlier this month were unreliable.

Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) rose 2.1 percent to a record $749.38. The world’s largest search engine is benefiting from rising demand for its advertising products, including search, display and mobile. The company is expected to become the leader in the United States for display advertising this year, including banner ads, replacing Facebook, according to eMarketer Inc.

MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) advanced 1.6 percent to $35.42. The insurer, which is seeking to exit banking to limit U.S. oversight, amended a deal to sell about $7 billion in deposits to General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) so that Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. approval is no longer required. The deal will now be subject to approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the N.Y.-based insurer said in a Sept. 21 regulatory filing.

TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) rallied 4 percent to $9.94. The company gained after Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) agreed to pay it at least $250.4 million under a patent-litigation settlement.

Pandora Media Inc. (NYSE: P) climbed 3.7 percent to $10.89. The biggest online radio service rose after Albert Fried & Co. estimated a bill introduced to Congress would cut the company’s content costs by as much as half.