Stocks ended slightly lower Monday following hawkish comments from a pair of Federal Reserve policymakers.
The S&P 500 dipped 0.2%, while the Dow Jones industrial average and the Nasdaq each lost less than 0.1%. Volume fell on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq compared to Friday, according to preliminary data.
Stocks have wobbled since minutes of the Federal Reserve's April meeting released last week suggested that policymakers may boost interest rates at the central bank's next meeting in June. Those expectations were bolstered Monday by hawkish comments from San Francisco Fed President John Williams and St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard. Investors may learn more when Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen speaks Friday.
In the stock market today, Monsanto (MON) led the S&P 500 by jumping more than 4%, notching its third straight gain, after German drug and chemical giant Bayer (BAYRY) announced plans to buy the U.S. agricultural seed company for $62 billion. Bayer fell by more than nearly 5%.
Meanwhile, Apple (AAPL) rose more than 1% after Taiwan's Economic Daily News reported that Apple has asked suppliers to build more of its next-generation iPhones than previously expected.
On the downside, Roper Technologies (ROP) suffered the biggest loss in the S&P 500, sliding more than 5% in heavy volume. The maker of medical imaging equipment, energy systems and a wide range of other products sliced through its 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The stock had been approaching a 185.24 buy point of a cup-with-handle base.
