Stocks Drop Slightly on Monday

After a strong Friday on the stock market, stocks dropped slightly on Monday. Most market experts believe that the drop was solely due to investors locking in profits that have been made over the last few months. To go along with that theory, bond prices were up on Monday.

All four of the most common stock indexes fell between 0.1% and 0.4%. The Russell 2000 fell .01% to finish the day at 571.87. Both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 fell 0.3%, with the Dow finishing at 9,337.95 and the S&P at 1,007.10. The Nasdaq composite index saw the biggest drop — 0.4% to finish Monday at 1,992.24.

Many investors are waiting to see what reports will come out of the Federal Reserve meeting that begins on Tuesday. While confidence is starting to turn around, there are still lingering concerns about certain industries such as commercial real estate and the banking industry.

Another big upcoming event for investors is the back to school shopping season. Next to the holidays, this is arguably the most important shopping season of the year. If numbers come in under the expected levels, that could begin a backwards slide in the stock market.

Federal Reserve (Image: Flickr)