The Dow Jones index lost 0.39% to 32,825.95 points. The technology-intensive Nasdaq advanced 0.09% to 13,471.57 points while the S&P 500 dropped 0.16% to 3,962.71 points.
“The market is going through a period of uncertainty as cyclical ‘old economy’ stocks have risen rapidly ‘lately’ while growth stocks remain highly valued,” said Tom Cahill, strategist at Ventura Capital Management.
“The markets are a little puzzled as to what will happen now. It is more a phase of digestion than worry about a possible correction to come,” added the analyst.
Wall Street was mainly watching the outcome of the Fed’s monetary meeting on Wednesday.
The Central Bank is expected to reiterate the status quo, with overnight rates at zero, despite inflation expectations in the market reflected by rising bond rates.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries rebounded to 1.6232% from 1.6055% the day before close.
“Rates have climbed back to near where they stirred the markets two weeks ago,” said Tom Cahill.
“The Fed will be able to say something on Wednesday which will either calm the markets or agitate them. It does not surprise me that the market is having trouble finding its feet,” he added.
The market also digested two disappointing indicators for February although mainly caused by the cold snap that paralyzed part of the country that month.
Retail sales fell sharply in the United States last month, falling 3% from January, when analysts expected a decline of only 0.6%. Industrial production fell by 2.2% over the month, again against a 0.6% decline expected by analysts.
Investors, however, reacted little to these data because “they know that stimulus checks will soon land in bank accounts and will certainly boost sales in March and April,” underlined for his part Patrick O’Hare of Briefing .com.
Among the actions of the day, Moderna, whose vaccine has begun to be tested on children, has climbed 8.60%. Novavax also progressed (+ 2.19%) while its vaccine project was the subject of a new British study demonstrating strong efficacy.
The energy sector of the S&P 500 was down 2.83% in the wake of a decline in crude prices. Chevron, attacked before competition authorities by non-governmental organizations over its environmental initiatives, lost 2.37%.
High speculative GameStop shares fell 5.44%. That of the AMC cinema chains, also sought after by stock marketers, fell 7.26% after a sharp increase the day before.