US stocks wobble on weaker economic data, slump in energy stocks

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks mostly lower Monday, led by a slump in energy stocks on falling oil prices and weaker manufacturing data pointing to a slowing in the economy.

At 14:15 ET (18:15 GMT), the benchmark S&P 500 fell 0.4%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was flat, and the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped by 308 points or 0.80%.

Energy stocks start to June on back foot

Energy stocks fell more than 3% to pressure the broader market following a slump in oil ongoing as OPEC and its allies, or OPEC+, agreed to extend the current production curbs through 2025, though said they would face would begin to phase out some voluntary cuts after the third quarter.

The move to ease some of the production curbs stoked fears of a supply surplus at a time when many are questioning the strength of the crude demand.

Halliburton Company (NYSE:HAL), Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ:FANG). Baker Hughes Co (NASDAQ:BKR) were among the biggest decliners

Paramount reportedly agrees to Skydance merger, Marinemax spikes on takeover report

Paramount Global Class B (NASDAQ:PARA) rose more than 58% after media company agreed to merger terms from Skydance, CNBC's David Faber reported Monday.

Skydance sweetened its offer for Paramount to $8 billion, up from $5 billion previously, but the deal still requires the backing of National Amusements owner, who owns, which owns 77% stake in Paramount.

MarineMax Inc (NYSE:HZO) was also rising sharply on merger news after Bloomberg reported that the company is in sale talks with OneWater Marine in a deal worth $40 per share.

Chips in focus as AMD, Nvidia unveils to new AI chips

Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) fell more than 2% even as the chipmaker unveil new artificial intelligence chips, while rival NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) was up more than 2% after revealing its next generation superchips to succeed its current blackwell chips.

Manufacturing activity dips, nonfarm payrolls, Fed meeting approach

Ahead of busy week on the economic calendar for top tier data, manufacturing activity fell more than expected in May as high interest rates continued to weigh on investment and expansion plans.

"The environment for capex investment remains very challenging so long as interest rates remain elevated," Jefferies said in a note.

The focus week will be on the upcoming nonfarm payrolls data for May, due later this week, which is set to offer more cues on the labor market -- another key consideration for the Fed in cutting interest rates.

The central bank is set to meet next week and is widely tipped to keep rates steady.

(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.)

This article first appeared in Investing.com