LONDON (ShareCast) - The Dow Jones Industrial Average was holding 47 points lower come Monday afternoon, following the trend set by European bourses, which saw the FTSE slip as uncertainty surrounding Scotland's future sent the pound tumbling to a 10 month-low of $1.6102.
The S&P 500 was down by 0.53% to 1,997 points in mid-afternoon trading, while the Nasdaq moved lower to 4,577.

“US indexes have seen rises over the past five weeks and now, having digested news that recent China trade data is weak and that Japanese gross domestic product (GDP) has shrunk at its fastest pace in over five years, the reality is that global economies aren't where they should be,' said Brenda Kelly, chief strategist at IG in a note on Monday.

Nevertheless, Morgan Stanley issued a new 12-month target for the S&P 500 of 2,125, representing 6.3% upside.

Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions continued to be under close watch, particularly in Ukraine where a ceasefire between government forces and pro-Russian separatists was largely holding.

Gold miners move lower

Having announced a $1.2bn deal to be acquired by Global Cash Access Holdings, Multimedia Games saw its share rose 29%, while Yahoo! Shares moved up 4.52% as Alibaba Group, China's largest e-commerce firm of which Yahoo! owns 24%, said it would seek $66 per share, hoping to raise $24.3bn in an IPO.

Hyperion Therapeutics shares dropped 5% after the company announced it had stopped developing its diabetes treatment after it became aware of serious misconduct by some of its employees involving trial data.

Campbell Soup delivered a disappointing full-year profit forecast, indicating expectations of a “challenging' consumer environment as one of the reasons behind its struggle and, as a result, its shares were down 2.13%.

Meanwhile, General Electric shares were flat as the firm announced it had reached an agreement to sell its appliances unit for $3.3bn to Sweden-based Electolux.

Boeing was a standout gainer. The aircraft-maker unveiled an order from Ryan Air Holdings for 100 of its 737-max aeroplanes.

From a sector standpoint the worst performance was to be seen in stocks from the following industrial groups: gold (-3.11%), coal (-2.45%) and mining (-2.42%).

Brent crude futures fell below $100 a barrel at one point in trading, their lowest level in over 12 months, as a fall in monthly imports in
China sparked worries about a slowing demand for natural resources.

Consumer credit data for July, due out at 15:00 ET (19:00 GMT) on Monday was the only US report worthy of note in what was otherwise expected to be a largely quiet day.

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