U.S. Stocks End Mixed After Cautious Session

(RTTNews) - U.S. stocks ended mixed on Monday as investors stayed largely cautious ahead of some crucial economic data, including a report on personal income & spending due later in the week.

Among the major averages, the Dow closed higher, extending gains to a fifth straight session. The index ended up by 260.88 points or 0.67 percent at 39,411.21. The Nasdaq ended at 17,496.82, losing 192.54 points or 1.09 percent. The S&P 500 settled at 5,447.87, down 16.75 points or 0.31% from the previous close.

Several companies, including Nike, Micron Technology, Carnival and Wallgreens Boots Alliance, are scheduled to announce their quarterly results during this week. On Friday, the Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending in the month of May, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

The report, which is expected to show a modest slowdown by the annual rate of consumer price growth, could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates.

Reports on new home sales, consumer confidence, durable goods orders and pending home sales may also attract attention in the coming days.

Investors are also looking ahead to the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump this week.

Nvidia Corporation shares tumbled 6.7 percent, sliding once again on profit taking. Dell Technologies and QualComm, both ended lower by more than 5 percent.

Amazon, Broadcom, Oracle Corporation, Home Depot, Netflix, Adobe, Salesforce.Inc. and Intel lost 1 to 3 percent.

Berkshire Hathway, JP Morgan Chase, Walmart, Exxon Mobil, UnitedHealth Group, Merck, Bank of America, Chevorn, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Verizon, IBM, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Boeing gained 1 to 4 percent.

In overseas trading, Asian stocks retreated on Monday as investors awaited U.S. inflation data and comments from Fed officials for additional clues on the outlook for interest rates.

European stocks closed on a firm note as bond yields dropped and investors digested some corporate news, while looking ahead to fresh economic data, the U.S. Presidential debate, and France's snap parliamentary polls.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures settled higher by $0.90 or about 1.1 percent at $81.63 a barrel. Gold futures for June ended up by $13.60 or about 0.6 percent at $2,330.00 an ounce.

In currency trading, the dollar index dropped to 105.37 before recovering slightly to 105.48, but still remained weak, trailing previous close by 0.3 percent. Against the Euro, the dollar was down at 1.0736, and against the Japanese currency, declined marginally to 159.61 yen.