Wall Street closed with losses overnight as investors awaited economic data, reporting on Federal Reserve candidates later this week and assessing comments from policymakers for clues on the interest rate outlook.
Non-farm payrolls data for October and November are due later this week, along with reports on retail sales, business activity and inflation. October jobs data was delayed due to the government shutdown earlier in the quarter.
“Markets today are struggling with where to find leadership, not wanting to have all eggs in the AI basket, and not having a lot of data yet,” said Carol Schleiff, chief investment officer at BMO Family Office.
“People will hold their breath this week ahead of the jobs numbers and see whether they are supportive of more rate cuts.”
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted their sharpest daily declines in more than three weeks on Friday amid concerns about inflation and debt-fueled AI investment.
Traders also assessed a report that White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett's candidacy for the role of Fed chair met some opposition from people close to US President Donald Trump.
As Jerome Powell's term ends in May, speculation about a possible candidate has intensified. Expectations for a dovish Fed chair have boosted the prospects for an interest rate cut next year.
Also on Monday, New York Fed President John Williams said the central bank's interest rate cuts last week left it in a good position, while Fed Governor Stephen Miron argued that current inflation does not reflect real supply-demand dynamics.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 41.49 points, or 0.09 percent, to 48,416.56, the S&P 500 fell 10.90 points, or 0.16 percent, to 6,816.51 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 137.76 points, or 0.59 percent, to 23,057.41.
Eight of the 11 S&P 500 major industry sectors rose, led by healthcare stocks, which rose 1.3 percent.
Information technology shares fell one percent, dragged by ServiceNow, which fell 11.5 percent after a report that the cybersecurity company is in advanced talks to buy startup Armis.
In other company moves, Tesla rose 3.5 percent after CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker is testing its robotaxis without a safety monitor in the front passenger seat.
IRobot fell 72.7 percent after the Roomba vacuum-cleaner maker filed for bankruptcy protection.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a one-to-one ratio. There were 283 new highs and 93 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 1,715 shares advanced and 3,021 shares declined, as declining issues outnumbered advancing shares by a 1.76-to-one ratio.
The S&P 500 recorded 30 new 52-week highs and six new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 133 new highs and 198 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 17.13 billion shares, compared with the full-session average of 17.10 billion over the last 20 trading days.
