New York: US stocks fell on Monday, retreating from last week`s records as analysts pointed to profit-taking and to predictions from some experts that the market was due for a pullback.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 45.85 points (0.27 percent) to 17,022.41.
The broad-based S&P 500 dropped 7.93 (0.40 percent) to 1,977.51, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 34.40 (0.77 percent) to 4,451.53.
Some market watchers expressed nervousness at the latest surge in equity prices that last week lifted the Dow above 17,000 for the first time.
Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz told a television interview that he was "very uncomfortable" with current stock prices, while Raymond James managing director Jeffrey Saut said in a note that stocks are vulnerable to a 10-12 percent decline in the weeks ahead.
"We`ve had a good run here," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, who also cited profit-taking.
"When we reach these milestones, we tend to spend a little while consolidating around them."
