Stocks on Wall Street fell at the opening on Monday after the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed out last week at a five-year high.
The S.&P. 500 lost 0.5 percent in early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq composite index slipped 0.5 percent. European market indexes were down in afternoon trading.
Last week was the best for stocks traded in New York in more than a year as a budget deal and economic data bolstered investor confidence.
Investors are likely to turn their attention to the fourth-quarter earnings season that kicks off this week. Earnings were expected to be only slightly better than the third quarter’s lackluster results, and analysts’ estimates were down sharply from what they were in October.
“We have a cautious market entering fourth-quarter earnings season,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York. “I think it’s going to be a disappointing one this time around.”
Financial shares will also be in focus on Monday, a day after a panel of global regulators known as the Basel Committee gave banks four more years and greater flexibility to build up cash buffers, scaling back moves that aimed to help prevent another financial crisis.
By spurring credit, the easing of the bank rules may help support growth, potentially raising investments in equities and other relatively risky assets. “Basel giving banks four more years to get their act together will be good” for stocks, Mr. Cardillo said.
Bank of America shares added 0.5 percent after it reached a settlement with Fannie Mae to resolve mortgage repurchase claims.
The video-streaming service Netflix said it would carry previous seasons of some popular shows produced by Time Warner’s Warner Brothers Television. Its shares rose 3.9 percent.
Amazon.com shares rose 3.1 percent after Morgan Stanley raised its rating on the stock to “overweight” from “equal weight.”
Markets Tighten After 5-Year High
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Markets Tighten After 5-Year High
