Major U.S. stock indexes slipped Monday to start the week after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 notched fresh record closes Friday.
The 30-stock index removed 262.21 points to begin Monday at 35,253.17, a far cry from Friday’s all-time record.
The S&P 500 dropped 26.5 points to 4,441.50.
The NASDAQ stumbled 117.04 points to 14,705.85.
Shares of stocks linked to a fast-recovering economy were weak in morning trading. Energy, travel and financial names trended lower.
Occidental Petroleum fell more than 4%, Norwegian Cruise Line dropped roughly 3% and JPMorgan Chase dipped more than 1%.
Tesla’s stock retreated Monday after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a formal probe into the electric vehicle maker’s Autopilot partially automated driving system.
Investors await quarterly earnings reports from major retailers this week, including Home Depot, Walmart, Target and Lowe’s.
U.S. stocks also pulled back amid growing support within the Federal Reserve to announce a tapering of its bond purchases in September and begin the reduction in buying a month or so after. Interviews with central bank officials, along with their public comments, show growing support for a faster taper timeline than markets had expected a month ago.
The major stock indexes for much of the last month have ground to new records on the back of robust corporate earnings results. The S&P 500 has closed at a record high 48 times this year out of 155 trading days, or 31% of the time — the most frequent closing highs on record back to 1950.
In all, 87% of S&P 500 companies have reported positive earnings per share surprises for the second calendar quarter, according to FactSet as of Friday. If 87% is the final percentage, it will mark the highest percentage of S&P 500 companies reporting positive EPS surprises since FactSet began tracking this metric in 2008.
Data showed Chinese economic growth slowing more than expected. China’s retail sales increased by 8.5% in July year-over-year, below the 11.5% forecast from economists polled by Reuters. Online sales gained just 4.4% for the month. On the manufacturing sector in the country, industrial production increased by 6.4%, below the 7.8% consensus estimate.
The country’s National Bureau of Statistics noted an impact from COVID and domestic flooding, saying the country’s “economic recovery is still unstable and uneven.”
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained ground, lowering yields to 1.23% from Friday’s 1.29%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices flopped $2.45 to $65.99 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices prospered $9.10 to $1,787.30 U.S. an ounce.