WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a lack of direction early in the session, stocks moved mostly lower over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages all moved to the downside, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 pulling back off last Friday's record closing highs.
The major averages finished the day firmly in negative territory. The Dow fell 240.59 points or 0.5 percent to 44,401.93, the Nasdaq slid 123.08 points or 0.6 percent to 19,736.69 and the S&P 500 declined 37.42 points or 0.6 percent to 6,052.85.
A slump by shares of Nvidia (NVDA) weighed on the markets, with the AI darling tumbling by 2.6 percent on the day.
The drop by Nvidia came amid news a Chinese regulator has launched an investigation into whether the chipmaker violated the country's antimonopoly laws.
Traders may also have been cashing in on recent strength in the markets, which has lifted the major averages to record highs.
The weakness on Wall Street also came as traders looked ahead to the release of closely watched U.S. inflation data later in the week.
Reports on consumer and producer price inflation, which are due to be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, could impact the outlook for interest rates.
While the Federal Reserve is widely expected to lower rates by another 25 basis points next week, there is some uncertainty about whether the central bank will continue cutting rates early next year.
Sector News
Telecom stocks came under considerable selling pressure over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index down by 1.7 percent.
Significant weakness was also visible among interest rate-sensitive utilities stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent loss posted by the Dow Jones Utilities Average.
Brokerage and banking stocks also saw notable weakness, while gold stocks moved sharply higher along with the price of the precious metal.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance on Monday. While Japan's Nikkei 225 Index crept up by 0.2 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index spiked by 2.8 percent, South Korea's Kospi plunged by 2.8 percent.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved mostly higher on the day. The French CAC 40 Index advanced by 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent, although the German DAX Index bucked the uptrend and dipped by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved to the downside, giving back ground following recent strength. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 4.8 basis points to 4.199 percent.
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