US close: stocks retreat from Friday's record highs
US stocks closed lower on Monday, reversing from the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500's record highs on Friday ahead of Tuesday's Federal Reserve policy meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 41.77 points lower at 18,038, while the S&P 500 declined 8.76 points to 2,109 and the Nasdaq lost 31.84 points, closing at 5,060.
Corporate earnings, which have generally been better than expected, remained in focus as investors looked to Apple's results, set to be published after the closing bell.
The California-based giant is expected to report another quarter of strong profit and sales growth, with its results likely to set the tone for the rest of the week. Analysts predict fiscal second-quarter earnings of $2.15 a share and a revenue of $55.75 billion.
“Judging by the moves in the tech giant last week, the market believes the eight consecutive quarterly earnings beats will continue. Expect a sizable increase to its previously announced buyback,” said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG, in a note.
In data news, expansion in the US services sector eased slightly in April from March's seven-month high, due to slower business growth, although the pace of hiring in the sector rose to its highest rate since last June, according to an industry report released on Monday.
The CBOE Volatility Index, widely held to be the best gauge of fear in the market, traded close to 13.
However, the main focus of the week's economic calendar will be Wednesday's release of a preliminary reading on first-quarter gross domestic product and the conclusion of the Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day meeting.
Celladon Corp shares plummeted to their lowest level since going public in January 2014, after revealing that a trial of its heart failure treatment missed both primary and secondary endpoints.
Applied Material plunged as the company decided to abandon plans to merge Tokyo Electron, due to problems with the US Department of Justice.
New York-listed shares of Deutsche Bank dipped after it revealed plans to scale back its investment banking operations. The news capped European markets, which were also under pressure from continuing Greek debt concerns.
Shares of iGATE Corp. were trading higher after French computer services and tech group Capgemini claimed it would buy its US peer for $4 bn.
In other international markets, the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index and Shanghai Composite Index both rebounded on Monday, hitting separate seven-year highs. The gains were driven by oil and shipping stocks, which surged on reports about possible mergers between some of China’s largest state-owned firms.
In commodity markets, gold futures rose 2.4% to $1203.60 an ounce, while crude-oil futures slipped 0.9% to $56.64 a barrel. Treasury prices rose slightly, pushing the 10-year yield down to 1.907% from 1.917% on Friday.
S&P 500 - Risers
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $21.82 +4.80%
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $74.83 +4.63%
Joy Global Inc. (JOY) $42.02 +3.63%
Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) $15.44 +2.66%
LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) $103.51 +2.66%
Newmont Mining Corp. (NEM) $25.59 +2.44%
Cameron International Corp. (CAM) $54.09 +2.42%
Rockwell Automation Inc. (ROK) $114.83 +2.41%
Precision Castparts Corp. (PCP) $205.08 +2.28%
Flowserve Corp. (FLS) $57.90 +2.22%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Windstream Holdings Inc (WIN) $10.61 -77.42%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $19.97 -8.39%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $71.72 -5.71%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $130.93 -5.35%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $28.80 -4.64%
Interpublic Group of Companies Inc. (IPG) $20.80 -4.57%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $127.88 -3.99%
Actavis plc (ACT) $285.34 -3.41%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $114.71 -3.37%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $162.43 -3.26%
Dow Jones I.A - Risers
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DD) $74.83 +4.63%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $132.65 +1.82%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.50 +1.30%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $85.34 +0.87%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $110.19 +0.60%
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) $170.72 +0.55%
General Electric Co. (GE) $26.89 +0.34%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $48.03 +0.33%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $28.89 +0.24%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $50.09 +0.12%
Dow Jones I.A - Fallers
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $96.44 -2.33%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $111.40 -2.02%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $116.30 -2.01%
Pfizer Inc. (PFE) $34.59 -1.93%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $57.09 -0.89%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $196.54 -0.73%
American Express Co. (AXP) $77.51 -0.62%
3M Co. (MMM) $158.07 -0.58%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $103.35 -0.58%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) $79.38 -0.58%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) $231.60 +6.03%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $42.41 +1.87%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $132.65 +1.82%
Akamai Technologies Inc. (AKAM) $77.04 +1.72%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $220.56 +1.69%
Nxp Semiconductors Nv (NXPI) $96.93 +1.68%
Priceline Group Inc (PCLN) $1,252.42 +1.57%
Vimpelcom Ltd Ads (VIP) $5.84 +1.57%
Texas Instruments Inc (TXN) $55.56 +1.52%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $69.23 +1.45%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $19.97 -8.39%
Mylan Inc. (MYL) $71.72 -5.71%
Mattel Inc. (MAT) $28.80 -4.64%
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) $127.88 -3.99%
Celgene Corp. (CELG) $114.71 -3.37%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $162.43 -3.26%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $60.61 -3.24%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $183.71 -3.10%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $389.46 -3.05%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $174.75 -2.96%