US stocks retreat from multi-month peaks
Wall Street stocks dipped on Monday, pulling back a bit from multi-month highs reached last week after the United States avoided a catastrophic debt default. Analysts cited profit taking as a factor in the market after last week's congressional agreement to suspend the US debt ceiling and avert a default sparked a rally. The Dow Jones dropped 0.6 percent to 33,562. The S&P 500 shed 0.2 percent to 4,273, while the Nasdaq declined 0.1 percent to 13,229. Stocks on Friday were also supported by solid US labour data. But a key economic indicator released on Monday – a survey reflecting services industry activity in May – showed the slowest growth since December. "The majority of respondents indicate that business conditions are currently stable; however, there are concerns relative to the slowing economy," said Anthony Nieves of the Institute for Supply Management. Among individual companies, Apple shed 0.8 percent after unveiling its first-ever virtual reality headset. The headset will focus on gaming, streaming video and conferencing, as well as health and fitness. The release puts Apple on a collision course with Facebook owner Meta, which had taken a head start on doubling down on virtual worlds, sometimes referred to as the metaverse. 3M fell 4.4 percent, giving back much of the gains from the prior session. A trial involving the industrial giant's alleged water pollution due to so-called "forever chemicals" was pushed back to give parties an opportunity to settle. Such a settlement could involve a large 3M payout, but would remove a key uncertainty around the company. (AFP)