By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks mostly fell Monday after a trade group reported pending-home sales dropped last month, equipment-maker Caterpillar Inc. reported profitable results and orders for durable goods rose in December.
The market’s recent win-streak left equities primed for a retreat.
“We’ve been up eight days in a row; this can’t go on forever,” Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG LLC, said of the S&P 500’s eight-session winning run.
Stocks relinquished what had been tepid gains after the National Association of Realtors said pending home sales declined 4.3% last month.
“There are a number of indicators that lead us to believe a market pause is more likely than not, but making the case for a sustained downside is difficult to do,” Greenhaus added.
After finishing above 1,500 last week for the first time since December 2007, the S&P 500 index SPX -0.16% was off 3.02 points, or 0.2%, at 1,499.94 in late morning trade.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -0.05% shed 12.30 points, or 0.1%, to 13,883.68, with Caterpillar CAT +1.43% leading gains that narrowed to include 13 of its 30 components.
The Commerce Department reported orders for durable goods in the U.S. climbed 4.6% last month. Read more: Orders for long-lasting goods jump 4.6% on bookings for Boeing.
While the jump in durable-goods orders for December is a welcome one, the picture painted by Caterpillar’s “telling you a little bit more about the global story,” said Greenhaus. Read more: Big earnings for Monday.
The Nasdaq Composite COMP +0.19% advanced 4.92 points, or 0.2%, to 3,154.63.
For every share rising nearly two slid on the New York Stock Exchange, where 172 million shares traded as of 10:50 a.m. Eastern time.
Composite volume topped 927 million.
Shares of Jos. A Bank Clothiers Inc. JOSB -18.59% fell 15% after the men’s apparel maker late Friday projected yearly profit would decline 20% from last year, with sales cut by unseasonably warm weather.
Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York.
