WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Following the strength seen during last Friday's sessions, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Monday. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line before eventually closing narrowly mixed.
While the Nasdaq rose 50.50 points or 0.2 percent to 24,887.10 and the S&P 500 inched up 8.83 points or 0.1 percent to 7,173.91, reaching new record closing highs, the Dow edged down 62.92 points or 0.1 percent to 49,167.79.
The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves amid a lack of clarity about the situation in the Middle East after U.S.-Iran peace talks stalled over the weekend.
As talks between the U.S. and Iran enter a new phase of uncertainty, media reports suggested that Iran has proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war while postponing nuclear negotiations to a later stage.
Earnings news may move into the spotlight in the coming days, with five of the 'Magnificent Seven' companies set to report their quarterly results this week.
Traders are also likely to keep an eye on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision scheduled to be announced on Wednesday.
While the Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, the central bank's accompanying statement may provide clues about the outlook for rates.
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors showed only modest moves on the day.
Airline stocks showed a significant move to the downside, however, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index slumping by 2.1 percent.
Considerable weakness was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent loss posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.
Telecom, networking and pharmaceutical stocks also saw notable weakness, while banking stocks showed a strong move to the upside.
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Monday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.4 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dipped by 0.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets moved to the downside on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the German DAX Index both dipped by 0.2 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved lower over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 2.6 basis points to 4.336 percent.
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