U.S. Stocks Extend Pullback Amid Worries About Interest Rates

(RTTNews) - Following the sharp pullback seen last Friday, stocks saw further downside during trading on Monday. With the decline, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell further from multi-month highs.

The major averages all closed in negative territory, although the Dow showed a relatively modest drop, edging down34.99 points or 0.1 percent to 33,891.02.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled 119.50 points or 1.0 percent to 11,887.45, while the S&P 500 slid 25.40 points or 0.6 percent to 4,111.08.

Concerns about the outlook for interest rates continued to weigh on Wall Street following last week's stronger than expected jobs data.

Trading activity was somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.

The economic calendar remains relatively light throughout the week, although traders are likely to keep an eye on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday.

After last week's interest rate increase, traders are likely to look to Powell's comments for additional clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

Computer hardware stocks saw considerable weakness on the day, resulting in a 2.3 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Dell Technologies (DELL) posted a steep loss after announcing plans to cut about 6,650 jobs or approximately 5 percent of its global workforce.

Significant weakness was also visible among steel stocks, as reflected by the 2.0 percent drop by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.

Housing, semiconductor and gold stocks also saw notable weakness, moving lower along with most of the other major sectors.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly lower on Monday, although Japan's Nikkei 225 Index bucked the downtrend and climbed by 0.7 percent. China's Shanghai Composite Index slid by 0.8 percent, while South Korea's Kospi tumbled by 1.7 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the German DAX Index both fell by 0.8 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries extended the steep drop seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, jumped 10.2 basis points to 3.634 percent.

Looking Ahead

Powell's comments in a conversation with David Rubenstein, Chairman of the Economic Club of Washington, D.C., are likely to be focus in Tuesday.

Reports on the U.S. trade deficit and consumer credit may also attraction some attention along with the latest earnings news.