Markets fall but are likely to end year strong

Stocks closed broadly lower on Wall Street Monday, erasing some of the major indexes’ recent gains, though the market remains on track to end the year with its best performance since 2013.

The pullback ended a two-day winning streak by the S&P 500. The benchmark index has risen five straight weeks, notching multiple all-time highs along the way. It’s on track to end December with its fourth consecutive monthly gain.

Technology, communication services and health care stocks accounted for much of the selling Monday. Retailers and other companies that rely on consumer spending also fell.

Homebuilders fell after a report on pending U.S. home sales in November came in below analysts’ expectations. Shares in utilities and real estate sector companies fared the best, ending with only tiny losses, as investors shifted assets to high-dividend stocks and other bond proxies.

“There could be a few big institutions out there that are taking some profits,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading & derivatives at Charles Schwab. “Big can have a bigger influence on the market when the volumes are low.”

The S&P 500 dropped 18.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to 3,221.29. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 183.12 points, or 0.6 percent, to 28,462.14. The Nasdaq composite lost 60.62 points, or 0.7 percent, to 8,945.99.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks slid 4.88 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,664.15.

Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.89 percent from 1.87 percent late Friday.

Despite the downbeat start to the holiday-shortened week, the S&P 500 is on pace to finish the year 28.5 percent higher, which would make it the strongest annual gain for the market since 2013.

A truce in the 17-month U.S.China trade war and positive signs for the economy have helped keep investors in a buying mood. Fears about a possible recession have also faded since the summer after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates three times. The central bank appears set to keep them low for the near future.

Still, as the market prepares to close out a strong year of gains, uncertainty remains over the fi nal details of a “Phase 1” trade deal between Washington and Beijing, which U.S. officials say will be signed in early January. Details of the agreement have not been disclosed, and it’s unclear how much impact it will have if the two sides are unable to resolve their remaining differences.

Hovnanian Enterprises led the slide in homebuilder shares Monday, falling 2.5 percent. The National Association of Realtors said that its pending home sales index, which measures the number of purchase contracts signed, rose 1.2 percent last month to 108.5.