US stock market: Wall Street ends down as megacaps give back gains
US stocks ended lower on Monday, interrupting last week's rally, as investors turned cautious ahead of employment data due this week that could alter expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates early next year.
The S&P 500 receded, with megacaps Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia and Amazon dipping over 1%, pressured by higher U.S. Treasury yields, which made returns on stocks less attractive.
The S&P 500 registered its highest close of the year on Friday as remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the central bank's need to «move forward carefully» amid signs of economic softening, comments that bolstered expectations the Fed has finished raising rates.
Small-cap stocks rose on Monday, with the Russell 2000 rallying about 1% and bringing its gain this year to almost 7%.
«There is a lot of chop around here that is not necessarily meaningful,» said Tom Martin, a senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments in Atlanta.
«We have a really important Fed meeting coming up, and what makes it important is that all of a sudden, the market has decided that they're going to cut early next year.»
The S&P 500 declined 0.54% to end the session at 4,569.78 points.
The Nasdaq declined 0.84% to 14,185.49 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.11% to 36,204.44 points.
Volume on U.S.
exchanges was relatively heavy, with 12.7 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 10.6 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.
Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies rallied 2.2% after an announcement on Friday it will join the S&P 500 effective Dec. 18.
Shares of Alaska Air Group tumbled 14% after the carrier said on Sunday it would acquire peer Hawaiian Holdings for $1.9 billion, including debt.
