Major United States benchmark averages finished lower on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) as investors pared back exposure to technology stocks heading into the final days of the year, following last week’s record highs on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 249.0 points or 0.5% to 48,461.9, the S&P 500 slipped 24.2 points or 0.4% to 6,905.7, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 118.8 points or 0.5% to 23,474.4.
Technology shares led the pullback, with the artificial intelligence trade coming under renewed pressure. Nvidia fell more than 1.2%, giving back part of its more than 5% gain from the previous week.
Palantir Technologies dropped 2.4%, Meta Platforms slipped 0.7% and Oracle traded 1.3% lower.
Tesla dropped 3.3% after hitting a record high last week, weighing on the consumer discretionary sector.
Materials stocks weakened, as precious metals miners declined after silver slid sharply following its move above $80 per ounce, while gold also fell after notching back-to-back record highs last week.
Energy shares moved higher, tracking a roughly 2% rise in oil prices, providing some support to the broader market.
Bank stocks, meanwhile, edged lower after a strong rally earlier in the year.
JPMorgan Chase retreated 1.3%, Bank of America fell 1.5%, Citigroup lost 1.9% and Wells Fargo declined 0.8%.
DigitalBridge surged 9.6% after Japan’s SoftBank Group agreed to acquire the digital infrastructure investor in a deal valued at US$4 billion.
Monday’s moves followed a flat finish last week, when the S&P 500 reached an intraday record of 6,945.77 on Friday before closing just below flat.
Despite the session’s decline, 2025 has been a strong year for U.S. equities. The S&P 500 is up more than 17% year to date, while the Dow has gained about 14%, putting it on track for its strongest annual performance since 2021. The Nasdaq Composite has outperformed, rising more than 21% so far this year.
Looking ahead, investors will focus on minutes from the Federal Reserve’s most recent meeting and weekly jobless claims data in an otherwise quiet week for economic releases.
On the bond markets, U.S. Treasury yields eased, with the 10-year and 2-year yields both down about 0.6% to 4.108% and 3.459%, respectively.
