Stocks fell for a sixth consecutive trading day on Monday following the weaker-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data and uncertainty over the debt deal in Washington, Reuters reported.

Health-care stocks were among the worst performers as investors feared the debt-ceiling deal could lead to cuts in Medicare and other federal health programs, analysts said.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.62 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 0.91 percent and the Nasdaq composite index was down 1.08 percent.

The day had a promising start, as the markets opened with the Dow Jones industrial average having gained 1.11 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index up 1.15 percent due to optimism regarding negotiations on the debt limit.

The early gains quickly faded after the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing numbers were released.

Even though a default was considered unlikely by many investors, the threat of a credit rating downgrade continued to weigh on sentiment after Wall Street’s worst week in a year last week.