Stocks end below latest record highs as tech slips

NEW YORK— Stock indexes gave up some of their recent gains Monday, pulling the S&P 500 slightly below the record high it hit last week.

Technology, communication and energy stocks weighed on the market, outweighing gains by a mix of companies, including banks and those that rely directly on consumer spending, such as Nike and Chipotle.

Bond yields inched higher after easing most of last week. Investors have been focusing on the economic recovery as well as the risks higher inflation pose to consumers and companies. Those concerns have helped push up bond yields for much of this year.

Monday’s pullback snapped a three-day winning streak for the benchmark S&P 500, which closed out last week with its third straight weekly gain.

“It’s this back and forth as the market tries to figure out how strong the economy is going to be and how long its going to last,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.81 points, or less than 0.1%, to 4,127.99. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 55.20 points, or 0.2%, to 33,745.40. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 50.19 points, or 0.4%, to 13,850. The S&P 500 and Dow each set record highs Friday.

Small company stocks, which have been outgaining the broader market this year, also fell. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies gave up 9.69 points, or 0.4%, to 2,233.78. The index is up 13.1% so far this year, while the S&P 500, which tracks large companies, is up 9.9%.

Wall Street will be watching company earnings reports this week, particularly several from banks.

Investors expect big profits for the 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.