Stocks end modestly lower after recouping most of early loss

BEIJING — Stocks ended slightly lower on Wall Street Monday after recouping much of an early slide. Technology stocks bounced back after leading the market lower in the morning. Losses for industrial companies and banks were partly offset by gains in health care companies. The S&P 500 ended down 0.1%, erasing most of an earlier loss of just over 2%. The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted with technology companies, closed up less than 0.1%. It was down 2.7% earlier. Bond yields continued to rise as investors anticipate moves by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. Energy prices fell.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Stocks fell and bond yields rose Monday, extending the market’s pullback last week, as investors shifted holdings in anticipation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year in its bid to lower inflation.

The selling was broad, though by late afternoon the indexes had come above their lows from earlier in the day. S&P 500 was down 0.7% as of 3:29 p.m. Eastern. The benchmark index had been down 2% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 312 points, or 0.9%, to 35,914 and the Nasdaq fell 0.8%.

Technology stocks again accounted for a big share of the decline. The sector has been the biggest weight on the market through January and is coming off of its worst week since October 2020. Big technology stocks have an outsized influence on the S&P 500 because of their huge size. Coming into the year, the technology sector represented 29.2% of the S&P 500. Nvidia shed 1.1%.

Wall Street is closely watching the Federal Reserve for clues as to how soon it might raise interest rates. The central bank has already said it will accelerate the reduction of its bond purchases, which have helped keep interest rates low. The market now puts the chances of the Fed raising short-term rates by at least a quarter point in March at around 78%. A month ago, it was about 36%.

Higher interest rates make the stocks of expensive tech companies and other pricey growth companies less attractive to investors, which is why the sector has been slipping while bond yields rise.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.77% from 1.76% late Friday.

Health care was the only sector in the S&P 500 on pace for a gain. Sectors that are considered less risky, including utilities and household goods makers, held up better than the rest of the market.

Elsewhere in the market a mix of deal news and financial updates moved several large stocks.

Take-Two Interactive, maker of “Grand Theft Auto,” plunged 14.9% after announcing a deal to buy Zynga, which makes “Words With Friends” and “Farmville.” Zynga jumped 41.2%.

Athletic apparel maker Lululemon Athletica fell 2.3% after warning investors that a surge in virus cases hurt its fourth-quarter financial results. Medical products maker and distributor Cardinal Health fell 6.1% after saying that supply chain problems will hurt profits for its medical segment.

Investors have a busy week of economic reports and corporate earnings.

On Wednesday, the Labor Department will release an update on how inflation is impacting prices with its Consumer Price Index for December. The agency will release give investors details on how inflation is impacting businesses with its Producer Price Index for December on Thursday.

On Friday, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo will report their latest quarterly financial results.