U.S. markets drop Monday

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes closed lower Monday after automakers reported sales in December were down in the range of 30 percent.

General Motors Corp. said sales fell 31 percent from a year ago, while Ford Motor Co. smaller car sales dropped 32 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported.

By close, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 81.80 points, or 0.91 percent, to 8,952.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 fell 0.47 percent, 4.35 points, to 927.45. The Nasdaq composite index lost 4.18 points to 1,628.03, off 0.26 percent.

On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,086 stocks advanced and 1,003 declined on a volume of 4.3 billion shares traded.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 1 1/32 to yield 2.474 percent.

The euro rose to $1.3617, compared to Friday's $1.3574. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to 93.36 yen, up from Friday's 93.32 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 183.56 points to 9,043.12, up 2.07 percent.

In London, the FTSE 100 index gained 0.39 percent, 17.85 points, to 4,579.64.