Banks, industrials and other shares dependent on economic growth led the pullback.
The 30-stock index stumbled 115.29 points to end Monday at 38,571.03.
The S&P 500 poked ahead 5.89 points to 5,283.40.
The NASDAQ remained positive 93.65 points to 16,828.67.
Wall Street is coming off a strong month, with all three major averages notching their sixth positive month in seven. The Nasdaq rose 6.9% in May, its best month since November 2023.
However, the rally seemed to lose steam near the end of the month. The three averages all closed May more than 1% below their record highs, even with the Dow adding more than 500 points on Friday. The NASDAQ fell 1.1% last week as chip stocks, including Nvidia, stumbled.
Cyclical stocks whose fortunes are closely tied to economic growth such as energy, industrial and materials companies led the decline.
Earlier, the U.S. manufacturing sector showed signs of slowing, with the ISM manufacturing index measuring 48.7 in May, sending Treasury yields and the dollar lower. A reading below 50 is an indication of a contraction.
Nvidia rose nearly 5% after announcing a new suite of artificial intelligence chips, a sign it is prepared to fight to stay ahead in the highly competitive space. The chipmaker said it will upgrade its AI chip architecture on an annual basis.
The first week of June is brimming with further economic updates. Investors also await private payroll data on Thursday from ADP followed by a key jobs report on Friday.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 4.40% from Friday’s 4.50%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed $2.99 to $74.00 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices resurfaced $21.00 to $2,366.90.