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U.S. equities closed lower in light volume trade Monday, with energy stocks lagging as oil prices briefly hit their lowest in nearly three months.
The Dow Jones Industrials came off their lows of the day, but still slumped 77.79 points to 18,493.06.
Chevron fell nearly 2.5%, Exxon Mobil closed 1.9% lower and UnitedHealth lost almost 1.4% for the greatest negative impact on the Dow. Even so, the blue-chip index is up 3.1% for the month so far.
The S&P 500 slid 6.55 points to 2,168.46. Energy closed nearly 2% lower as the greatest declining S&P 500 sector.
Consumer discretionary was the only positive S&P sector, helped by gains in retail stocks.
Redbox owner Outerwall announced it would be bought for $1.6 billion U.S. by funds managed by Apollo Global Management.
The NASDAQ dropped 2.53 points to 5,097.63. Shares of Apple closed more than 1% lower for a third-straight day of declines.
In corporate news, Verizon announced Monday plans to acquire Yahoo for $4.8 billion U.S. in cash.
Apple is scheduled to report earnings Tuesday after the close. 3M, Caterpillar, DuPont, McDonald's, United Technologies and Verizon are due to post results ahead of the open.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is scheduled to conclude its two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon. While the central bank is not generally expected to raise rates, indications in the statement on the timing of the next hike will be key.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury skidded, raising yields to 1.57% from Friday’s 1.56%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices backtracked $1.13 a barrel to $43.06 U.S.
Gold prices subtracted $9.50 to $1,313.90 U.S. an ounce.
