US: Dow Jones falls back after topping 35,000 for first time, Nasdaq sinks

[NEW YORK] The rally on Wall Street ran out of steam on Monday as the Dow snapped a three-day streak of records and the Nasdaq tumbled on weakness in technology shares.

The topsy-turvy session marked a choppy open to a week that includes upcoming retail sales and consumer price data seen as influential in shaping expectations for US monetary policy.

Industrial names such as Caterpillar and 3M still mustered solid gains, but large tech names like Amazon and Facebook sank.

"It really is kind of a tale of two cities if you will," said JJ Kinahan of TD Ameritrade.

The Dow ended down slightly after topping 35,000 points for the first time earlier in the session.

The Nasdaq turned in another weak performance as investors rotate out of technology names to companies more connected to the economic recovery.

US stocks had risen on Friday following a disappointing April jobs report that bolstered expectations the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates low for a long period of time to support the economic recovery.

In addition to data on consumer prices and retail sales, this week's calendar also includes a report on producer prices.

Numerous consumer and manufacturing companies highlighted rising prices as a challenge in their recent batch of earnings reports.

Earlier, Europe's main stock markets ended little changed, while Asian equities finished mixed.

Copper prices surged to a new all-time before pulling back somewhat.

In currency markets, the pound was higher against its main rivals after the Scottish National Party fell short of an outright majority in UK regional elections.

That result is "leading most analysts to predict that London will be able to delay a new Scottish independence referendum for at least a few years, reducing the near-term risk of a break-up of the UK and the detrimental impact such an outcome is likely to have on the value of the currency," said ActivTrades analyst Ricardo Evangelista.

AFP