Dow, S&P 500 end lower following drop in energy shares

NEW YORK: The Dow and S&P 500 ended lower on Monday after a drop in energy shares, while the Nasdaq edged higher with Yahoo.

The S&P 500's decline followed a record close on Friday.

Energy led the day's decline, with the S&P energy index <.SPNY> off 1.6 percent. Shares of Exxon Mobil fell 1.5 percent and Schlumberger's were down 2.1 percent, among the biggest drags on the S&P 500.

A stronger dollar pushed dollar-denominated commodities lower. The U.S. dollar rose to its highest in over a year, while U.S. crude fell 0.7 percent.

"What you have as much as anything, the market is just consolidating some recent gains," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

"The dollar is rallying and, as a consequence, you see the commodity complex getting clobbered. Energy is taking a blow, so that's making a dent."

Helping the Nasdaq, shares of Yahoo jumped 5.6 percent to $41.81, their highest close since Jan. 11, 2006, in anticipation of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's initial public offering. Yahoo has a 22.4 percent stake in Alibaba.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 25.94 points or 0.15 percent, to 17,111.42, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 6.18 points or 0.31 percent, to 2,001.53 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 9.39 points or 0.2 percent, to 4,592.29.

Recent market momentum has been driven by accommodative Fed policy, including bond purchases and low interest rates. Research from the San Francisco Federal Reserve indicated investors expect rates to stay low for longer than the central bank itself does.

The largest percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange was Cheetah Mobile , up 12.79 percent, while the largest percentage decliner was Halcon Resources , down 7.58 percent.

Among the most active stocks on the NYSE were U.S.-listed shares of Petrobras , down 5.31 percent to $18.35, and Ambev SA , down 2.39 percent to $6.95.

Besides Yahoo, Apple , down 0.6 percent at $98.36 and Microsoft , up 1.2 percent to $46.47 were among the most actively traded.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,876 to 1,143, for a 1.64-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,525 issues rose and 1,200 fell for a 1.27-to-1 ratio favoring advancers.

The broad S&P 500 index posted 45 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 78 new highs and 26 new lows.

About 5.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, near the 5.3 billion average for the last five sessions, according to data from BATS Global Markets- Reuters