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US stocks closed slightly lower Monday, capping a mostly quiet day of trading that eased the market back from record highs set late last week.
Utilities and materials companies posted some of the biggest losses. Energy stocks led the gainers, even as crude oil prices declined. Technology companies and banks also bucked the downward trend.
Google parent Alphabet closed above $1,000 a share for the first time.
The dip snapped a two-day winning streak for stocks, which have been mostly pushing higher this year. The major stock market indexes hit new highs last Thursday and Friday.
The S&P 500 index dipped 2.97 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 2,436.10. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 22.25 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 21,184.04. The Nasdaq composite index lost 10.11 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 6,295.68.
Small-company stocks fell more than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 slid 8.94 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 1,396.45. Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.
Benchmark US crude slid 26 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to close at $47.40 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, fell 48 cents, or 1.0 per cent, to close at $49.47 a barrel in London.
Bond prices fell. The 10-year Treasury yield inched up to 2.18 per cent from 2.19 per cent late Friday, when it sank to its lowest level of the year.
Investors bid up shares of some technology companies, giving the sector a slight gain. Among them: Google's parent Alphabet, which eclipsed the $1,000 per share threshold for the first time. The search giant's stock added $7.76, or 0.8 per cent, to $1,003.88.
In other energy trading, wholesale gasoline lost 4 cents, or 2.5 per cent, to $1.54 per gallon. Heating oil dipped 3 cents to $1.46 per gallon. Natural gas dipped 2 cents to $2.98 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Among metals, gold rose $2.50 to $1,282.70 per ounce. Silver added 6 cents to $17.58 per ounce, while copper lost 2 cents to $2.56 per pound.
In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.1255 from $1.1276 on Friday. The dollar weakened to 110.49 from 110.50 yen, according to AP.