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Stocks traded lower on Monday as declines in Apple and semiconductor shares put pressure on the broader technology sector.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was hit hard, losing 187.67 points to 25,225.55
The S&P 500 moved backward 18.44 points to 2,717.83
The NASDAQ withered 109.26 points, or 1.5%, to begin the week at 7,138.61
Apple led tech shares lower after The Wall Street Journal reported the company has cut production orders for the new iPhones unveiled earlier this year. The company's stock fell more than 2.5%.
Tech shares also fell after media reports of Chinese allegations of "massive evidence" of anti-trust violations by Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron Technology. The report also said China would deepen its investigation into the three companies, which are the largest memory-chip manufacturers in the world.
Micron fell 1.9% while Advanced Micro Devices dropped 3.6%
Meanwhile, another report said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has adopted a more aggressive managerial style. The report said Zuckerberg told 50 of his top executives earlier in 2018 that the company is at war as it receives pressure from lawmakers, investors and users.
This report comes after backlash from another article detailing how Facebook ignored and then tried to hide that Russia used the platform to disrupt the U.S. election in 2016. Facebook shares fell more than 3.5% on Monday.
The technology sector was the best performer in the S&P 500 last year and is the second-best performer for 2018. However, tech is down more than 10% from its 52-week high, which was reached earlier this year.
Stocks also declined on Monday after Vice President Mike Pence said in a speech Sunday that there would be no end to U.S. charges on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods unless Beijing changed its ways. His comments came at an APEC meeting in Papua New Guinea.
Pence's comments also follow President Donald Trump saying last week he may not impose further tariffs on Chinese goods.
China and the U.S. have been in a trade spat for most of the year. The world's largest economies have slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods. This has raised concern among global investors that the world economy could slow down amid tighter trading conditions.
Prices for the benchmark for the 10-year U.S. Treasury were static, keeping yields at Friday’s 3.07%.
Oil prices faded $1.15 to $55.31 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gave back 10 cents at $1,222.90 U.S. an ounce.
