Wall St falls as investors wary of big gains; Treasury yields rise

(To see a Reuters live blog on the US, UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

Boeing wins after offering new wage deal

Humana and Cigna fall after report that the companies resumed merger talks

114 S&P 500 companies will report results this week

Nvidia briefly hits a record

Indices down: Dow 0.75%, S&P 500 0.43%, Nasdaq 0.16%

(Updated at 12:08 pm ET/1608 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

Wall Street lost ground on Monday, retreating after a strong rally the previous week, as investors awaited earnings from major companies to gauge whether stocks would maintain their recent run to record highs.

A jump in Treasury yields added pressure, with the benchmark 10-year bond yield rising to 4.17%, a 12-week high.

Most rate-sensitive mega-cap tech stocks fell, with Tesla losing 1% and Microsoft and Meta Platforms losing 0.7%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 323.49 points, or 0.75%, to 42,952.42, the S&P 500 lost 24.97 points, or 0.43%, to 5,839.70, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 29.52. points, or 0.16%, to 18,460.03.

After a fairly optimistic start to earnings season, attention is turning to the 114 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report earnings this week. These include Tesla, Coca-Cola and Texas Instruments.

“There is always a certain degree of caution going into the heart of earnings season… there are some underlying factors in the market that are generally positive, but I would say they are being overshadowed by earnings here,” Tim said. Ghriskey, senior portfolio manager. Ingalls & Snyder strategist.

“We’re seeing yields across the board pick up a little bit here. There’s been some nervousness about some of the economic data we’ve seen recently.”

Of the companies that have reported so far, 83.1% beat profit estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG on Friday.

Some traders were likely booking profits, Ghriskey said.

The three major indexes posted a sixth consecutive week of gains on Friday, their best winning streak so far this year, while the Dow and S&P 500 closed at record highs.

Monday’s declines were broad, with nearly all 11 major S&P 500 sectors in the red, barring a slight gain in Information Technology.

The rate-sensitive real estate sector fell 1.9% as yields rose, while the technology sector was boosted by a 2.3% jump in chip heavyweight Nvidia, which briefly reached a new record.

The economically sensitive small-cap Russell 2000 fell 1.4%.

Investors are also looking ahead to the upcoming US presidential election, with polls showing former President Donald Trump’s chances improving.

“As the election date approaches, even small changes in tight polls could trigger seemingly erratic swings in market sentiment,” analysts at Danske Bank said.

Meanwhile, Boeing jumped 3% on news that workers could vote on a new deal to end a costly five-week strike.

Spirit Airlines soared 66.7% after the company reached an agreement to extend the debt refinancing period by two months.

Humana fell 1.5% after a report said Cigna had resumed merger talks with the health insurer. Cigna shares lost 4.4%.

Federal Reserve officials Neel Kashkari, Jeffrey Schmid and Mary Daly are scheduled to speak that day.

Home sales, preliminary PMI and durable goods reports will be on the data agenda all week, as will the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a ratio of 4.16 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange and by a ratio of 2.6 to 1 on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 recorded 39 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 72 new highs and 30 new lows.

(Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)