Wall Street retreats after solid start to March

REUTERS: Wall Street's main indexes dropped on Tuesday after a strong start to March as bond yields pulled back from a one-year high, while investors also looked to cues on progress in the next round of fiscal stimulus.

The S&P 500 on Monday logged its best day since June as markets cheered approval of a third COVID-19 vaccine in the United States and the U.S. House of Representatives' green light for a US$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

The U.S. Senate will start debating President Joe Biden's relief bill this week when Democrats aim to pass the legislation through a maneuver known as "reconciliation," which would allow the bill to pass with a simple majority.

"The market works like a pendulum and has a tendency to go down after seeing gains like in the previous session," said Randy Frederick, vice president at Charles Schwab in Austin.

"But concerns over lofty valuations and inflation persist even as the overall trend seems to be positive."

The technology sector dropped about 1per cent, extending a pullback from late last month after a selloff in the U.S. bond market sparked fears over highly valued stocks.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds have stabilized after hitting a one-year high last week.

At 11:36 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 101.65 points, or 0.32per cent, to 31,433.86, the S&P 500 lost 23.50 points, or 0.60per cent, to 3,878.32 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 149.77 points, or 1.10per cent, to 13,439.06.

Materials, consumer staples and energy stocks outperformed among major S&P sectors.

Later in the week, investors will focus on ISM's service sector survey as well as the monthly U.S. jobs report to ascertain the economic health.

Kohl's Corp rose about 1.5per cent as it posted holiday-quarter results beyond market expectations on a boost in online sales and as the company reined in costs.

TV ratings provider Nielsen gained nearly 5per cent after it sold its advanced video advertising business to television streaming platform provider Roku. Shares of Roku dropped 3.6per cent.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.6-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 20 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 147 new highs and 111 new lows.

(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)