(Reuters) - Wall Street’s major indexes slipped on Monday as investors booked profits on the penultimate day of the decade after improving global sentiment fueled a U.S. market rally this month.
The announcement of a Phase 1 U.S.-China trade deal earlier in December has partly powered the record-setting run on Wall Street, with the benchmark S&P 500 closing at all-time highs in nine of the past 11 sessions.
Although the finer details of the agreement have not yet been disclosed, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit Washington this week to sign the pact. But with thin trading volumes in a holiday-shortened week, some analysts expect a sideways move before the new year. The Nasdaq .IXIC snapped an 11-day winning streak on Friday.
“It has been a pretty spectacular year and Q4 especially has been really good so a lot of times people might be inclined to take some profits,” said Randy Frederick, vice president of trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin.
Tech stocks largely led the decline on the S&P, with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Apple Inc (AAPL.O) dragging the sector. The information technology sector is the best performing among the 11 S&P 500 sectors this year.
“It is also not uncommon for the leading sectors to pull back first when people start to sell because if it is an outperformer then it warrants a lot more downside risk,” said Frederick.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was down 144.98 points, or 0.51%, at 28,500.28,
