Dow retreats from record; Nasdaq up for 9th day
Stocks closed mixed Monday as the Dow retreated from a record high but the Nasdaq managed to extend its winning streak to a ninth straight day. The S&P 500 was basically flat as oil prices fell back below $50 a barrel.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 23.60 points, or 0.1%, to 18,116.84 a day after the blue chip index hit a record close of 18,140.44.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index dipped 0.64, or less than 0.1%, to 2109.66, down slightly from its record close reached on Friday.
The Nasdaq composite index inched ahead in its pursuit toward 5000, gaining 5 points, or 0.1%, to 4960.97. This is the best winning streak for the tech-heavy index since September 2010.
Oil on the U.S. market fell $1.36 to close at $49.45 a barrel in New York. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dropped to 2.06% from 2.11% Friday.
Investors were looking ahead to the start of a two-day round of Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. The remarks could provide insight into when the central bank will begin raising its key interest rate from near zero.
"The markets are in a holding pattern," said Erik Davidson, chief investment officer of Wells Fargo Private Bank. "We'll have some very interesting information coming up from Janet Yellen tomorrow and Wednesday, so the markets are looking at that very closely."
In economic news, existing home sales slowed to their lowest rate in 9 months, the National Association of Realtors says.
Sales of existing homes fell 4.9% in January from December. The number of sales stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.82 million in January, the lowest since May's figure of 4.9 million. Homebuilder stocks fell on the news.
Shares of Canadian drugmaker Valeant soared on news of its $10 billion deal to buy North-Carolina based Salix. Valeant (VRX) jumped 14.7% and Salix (SLXP) fell 1.3%.
Greece and its European creditors agreed to a four-month extension on the country's bailout Friday, but the 11th-hour deal only puts off a battle over controversial austerity measures that have weighed on the country's economy.
Debt-strapped Greece is due to submit a list of proposed reforms Monday to its creditors to get final approval for an extension to its rescue loans.
Asian stock markets were mostly higher Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 index gained 0.7% to close at 18,466.92, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was flat.
France's CAC 40 rose 0.6% to 4862.30 and Germany's DAX gained 0.7% to 11,130.92. Britain's FTSE 100 finished fractionally negative to end at 6912.16.
Contributing: The Associated Press