NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks finished the session lower Monday as the prospect of slowing economic growth battered sentiment.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 18.73 to 11,125.33, Charts) fell about 0.2 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index (down 4.96 to 1,262.07, Charts) declined about 0.4 percent. The Nasdaq composite (down 21.02 to 2,172.86, Charts) tumbled nearly 1 percent to its lowest level this year.

The Dow has posted losses in six of the past eight sessions, while the tech-fueled Nasdaq has declined for nine of the past 10 sessions and lost more than 3 percent since the start of the year.

A rebound in crude prices helped the Dow enjoy a brief run in positive territory in the afternoon as oil shares turned higher, but those gains ultimately gave way to overriding concerns about the interest rate outlook.

The Fed has raised rates 16 straight times starting in June 2004 in a bid to contain inflation. But some investors and policy-makers are nervous the central bank could overshoot, pushing rates too high and hurting economic growth - and corporate earnings.

The latest round of earnings reports highlighted those concerns, Michelle Clayman, chief investment officer at New Amsterdam Partners, said.

"Today you've got a couple of companies reporting good numbers but then saying there may be a little bit of a slowdown in the second half," she said.

Hardware retailer Lowe's (down $2.82 to $59.82, Research), for instance, said its first-quarter profit surged 44 percent, but shares lost nearly 5 percent after the company said cooling in the real estate sector could be challenging.

As of 5:30 p.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a flat to positive opening for stocks Tuesday.

No major economic reports are on tap Tuesday, but investors will be paying close attention to reports later in the week, including April readings on durable orders and new and existing home sales.

Investors took their cue from global markets in the early going and fled commodities and stocks for safe-haven investments.

Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note as low as 5 percent, before paring gains.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei index ended the session nearly 2 percent lower and European shares fell to their lowest close in five months, according to Reuters.

But sentiment improved late in the session as plunging commodity prices gained traction. U.S. light crude oil for June delivery rose 70 cents to settle at $69.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose 30 cents to settle at $657.80 an ounce.

Inflation fears also dampened the market's mindset Monday. Fresh inflation worries pummeled the market last week, with the Dow losing 2.1 percent, its worst week in four months, according to Reuters.

"People are very nervous and not sure about the outlook for the market," Michael Metz, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer, said.

Twenty out of 30 Dow components declined. Alcoa (down $0.83 to $31.15, Research) was the biggest loser on the blue-chip index, sliding about 2.6 percent.

Technology shares sank, led by weakness in semiconductor stocks.

Advanced Micro Devices (down $1.77 to $33.18, Research) lost about 5 percent and Intel (down $0.35 to $18.01, Research) gave up nearly 2 percent.

Yahoo! (up $0.93 to $30.46, Research) was one of the few tech companies to advance. The stock gained 3 percent after a report in Barron's said the Internet firm's shares were undervalued.

Shares of The New York Stock Exchange (down $1.65 to $62.85, Research) fell about 3 percent after it launched a $10.2 billion bid for Euronext, setting up a possible battle with Deutsche Boerse.

Shares of Dillard's (up $1.08 to $26.76, Research) jumped 4 percent after the department store operator said first-quarter earnings rose from the year-earlier period.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, decliners topped advancers by a margin of two to one on volume of 2.04 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, losers beat winners by two to one as 2.29 billion shares changed hands.

Treasury prices were higher, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 5.04 percent, down from 5.06 percent late Friday.

The dollar fell against the euro and drifted against the yen.

-----------------

Bill Gross: 'My bad' -- click here.

Click here for more breaking market news.