(Updates with market moves at the end of the day.)
Stocks on Wall Street ended Monday's choppy trade lower as markets awaited more earnings releases this week and kept an eye on developments in the Middle East.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% to 51,839.26, while the S&P 500 declined 0.2% to settle at 7,443.28. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.1% to 25,508.07. Most sectors were in the red, led by healthcare, while communication services saw the biggest gain.
This week, 86 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to release their latest quarterly financial results, Oppenheimer Asset Management said in a note. Google parent Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) -- which are two of the so-called Magnificent 7 stocks -- are slated to report Wednesday.
Intel, Philip Morris International (PM), American Express (AXP), T-Mobile US (TMUS), IBM (IBM), AT&T (T) and Verizon Communications (VZ) are among other major names expected to report this week.
"The reporting calendar is shifting beyond the first wave of money-center banks toward large tech, industrial and consumer names," Tigress Financial said in a note Monday. "The narrative will increasingly focus on whether (artificial intelligence) platforms, cloud providers and key cyclicals can match the strong bank prints without sparking renewed worries about margins or demand."
West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.6% at $82.97 a barrel in Monday late-afternoon trade, while Brent rose 0.9% to $88.88.
On Sunday, the US Central Command said it completed the ninth consecutive evening of strikes against Iran. The US confirmed the passing of at least three service members during recent fighting with Iran.
President Donald Trump said Monday that "every time Iran kills an American soldier they will pay for that killing many times over."
Iran could resume negotiations with the US based on national interests, CNBC reported, citing Tehran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei. US intermediaries had continued to exchange messages with Iran, Baghaei reportedly said.
"If this escalation goes unchecked, we could return to an environment of wide-scale attacks across the Persian Gulf," ING Bank said in a report Monday. "Vessel flows (in the Strait of Hormuz) have essentially ground to a halt."
US Treasury yields were higher, with the 10-year rate up 5.5 basis points at 4.6% and the two-year rate rising 3.9 basis points to 4.21%.
In company news, Magnolia Oil & Gas (MGY) agreed to acquire privately held WildFire Energy in a roughly $4.06 billion deal, including debt, that will give it a dominant position in the Giddings field in South Texas. Magnolia Oil shares slumped 6.4%.
Gold edged down 0.2% to $4,010.30 per troy ounce, while silver advanced 0.5% to $56.62 per ounce.
