WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following recent strength on Wall Street, the major U.S. stock indexes turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. While the Dow showed a notable pullback, the tech-heavy Nasdaq managed to end the day in positive territory.
The Dow slid 344.31 points or 0.8 percent to 42,931.60 and the S&P 500 dipped 10.69 points or 0.2 percent to 5,853.98, but the Nasdaq rose 50.45 points or 0.3 percent to 18,540.01.
The pullback by the Dow partly reflected significant declines by American Express (AXP), Merck (MRK) and Travelers (TRV).
The blue chip index gave back ground after reaching a record closing high last Friday, as some traders cashed in on the recent strength.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq fluctuated over the course of the session before eventually ending the day at its best closing level since setting a record closing high in July.
Overall trading activity was relatively subdued, as traders looked ahead to the release of a slew of corporate earnings news from big-name companies.
3M (MMM), General Motors (GM), Verizon (VZ), Boeing (BA), Coca-Cola (KO), IBM Corp. (IBM), Tesla (TSLA) and UPS (UPS) are among the companies due to report their quarterly results this week.
Reports on durable goods orders and new and existing home sales are also likely to attract attention in the coming days along with the Federal Reserve's Beige Book.
The Conference Board released a report this morning showing its reading on leading U.S. economic indicators fell by more than expected in the month of September.
The report said the leading economic index slid by 0.5 percent in September after falling by a revised 0.3 percent in August.
Economists had expected the leading economic index to decrease by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent dip originally reported for the previous month.
Sector News
Housing stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, with the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index plunging by 3.0 percent after ending last Friday's trading at a record closing high.
Considerable weakness was also visible among commercial real estate stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent slumped by the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index.
Telecom, banking and pharmaceutical stocks also saw significant weakness, while airline stocks showed a strong move to the upside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged down by 0.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index and the French CAC 40 Index both slumped by 1.0 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved sharply lower over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, surged 10.9 basis points to a two-month closing high of 4.182 percent.
Looking Ahead
Amid a lack of major U.S. economic data, trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reaction to the latest corporate earnings news.
3M, Comcast (CMCSA), General Motors, Lockheed Martin (LMT), and Verizon are among the companies due to report their quarterly results before the start of trading.
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