Wall Street stocks dipped from record highs on Monday, while U.S. Treasury yields jumped as investors awaited jobs data and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony later in the week.
Bitcoin was closely tracked as it approached its first record high since November 2021. The major U.S. equity indexes fell after Friday's record climb as European equities fell.
All three U.S. indices struggled to rise but lost momentum in the last hour. Although the S&P 500 dipped marginally, the Nasdaq and Dow plunged more.
Markets were cautious ahead of Powell's two-day congressional appearance on Wednesday and Thursday, the European Central Bank's policy decision, and the Labor Department's crucial February jobs report early Friday.
"Nothing is really happening (Monday) and that's why the stock market is undulating within small boundaries," said CFRA Research's New York chief financial strategist Sam Stovall. "The market is waiting for Jerome Powell's testimony to Congress, it's waiting for employment data on Friday and wondering whether we are going to get any kind of meaningful digestion of recent gains."
Employment data and Powell's testimony will help predict the Fed's rate cuts this year. Dow slid 97.55 points, or 0.25%, to 38,989.83. S&P 500 (.SPX) fell 6.13 points, or 0.12%, to 5,130.95, while Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) fell 67.43 points, or 0.41%, to 16,207.51.
European markets finished just south of all-time highs as investors digested recent gains and anticipated Thursday's European Central Bank monetary policy meeting. MSCI's worldwide stock index (.MIWD00000PUS) declined 0.01% while the pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) fell 0.03%.
Emerging market stocks rose 0.51%. MSCI's broadest Asia-Pacific index outside Japan, MIAPJ0000PUS, rose 0.57%, while Japan's Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.50%.
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