US: Stocks retreat from records

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks fell modestly on Monday, retreating from records as the market digested a weekend attack in London and another drop in oil prices that hit some petroleum stocks.

US stocks avoided major swings after the attack in London on Saturday left seven dead and throttled the British political campaign ahead of Thursday's general election.

Equity markets also took in stride a diplomatic crisis in which a number of Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, broke off ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting extremism.

"The market seems to be impervious to any kind of news," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities. "It's extremely flat across all market indices."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.1 per cent to close the session at 21,184.04.

The broad-based S&P 500 also shed 0.1 per cent to end at 2,436.10, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.2 per cent to finish at 6,295.68.

All three indices closed at records on Friday.

Besides the British election, key news events this week include a European Central Bank meeting Thursday and testimony also scheduled for Thursday by former FBI chief James Comey, whom President Donald Trump fired last month amid a probe of his campaign's ties to Russia.

Apple lost 1.0 per cent as it unveiled its "HomePod" speaker in a move to challenge Amazon Alexa and Google Home as a smart home and music hub.

AFP