Stocks ended just below the latest record highs they hit last week as technology companies slipped. The S&P 500 edged down less than 0.1% Monday and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gave up 0.4%. Investors are continuing to focus on the economic recovery as well as concerns about inflation and rising bond yields, the AP reports. Big banks will be in focus as several of them report their latest quarterly earnings in the middle of the week. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo report on Wednesday, while Bank of America and Citigroup report on Thursday. The S&P 500 fell 0.81 points to 4,127.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.20 points, or 0.2%, to 33,745.40. The Nasdaq fell 50.19 points, or 0.4%, to 13,850.
Investors expect big profits for the major banks, mostly due to rising interest rates and the ability for these banks to move loans that went bad in the early weeks of the pandemic back onto the 'good' side of their balance sheets. Tech stocks were the biggest drag on the market Monday. The sector has been choppy as investors shift money to other industries that could see solid gains as the economy recovers. Rising bond yields have also made technology stock values look pricey. The slide by technology companies offset gains from banks and a broad mix of companies that rely directly on consumer spending, including Nike and Chipotle. Nuance Communications soared 16.3% after Microsoft said it would buy the speech technology company for about $16 billion.
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