US Stock Markets Today: S&P 500 Falls, Nasdaq Down Over 1% As Tech Majors Slip

Two of the three main US stock market indices slipped significantly as the Wall Street opened for trade on Monday. The decline was led by a slump in the shares of some of the technology majors.

The broader index, S&P 500, opened 0.8% lower at 5,782.02, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was down 1.3% at 18,903.66 at the opening bell.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average opened nearly flat at 41,924.68, but edged higher in the early minutes of trade.

Tech mega-caps were the among the losers in early trade, with Nvidia Corp. slipping 3.5%, Microsoft Corp. edging lower by 1% and Apple Inc. declining by 2.6%.

Before the US market opened for trade, its Asian peers settled on a low now. The Indian benchmark index NSE Nifty 50 closed 1.47% lower, Japan's Nikkei 225 shed 1.05%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1% and mainland China's Shanghai Composite 0.25% lower. 

Six out of the 11 sectoral indices advanced in early trade, led by the energy and materials sector.

The market is also expected to keep a tab on the Federal Budget Balance to be announced at 2:00 p.m. ET by the US Department of Treasury. The monthly report shows the difference in value between the federal government's income and spending over the preceding month. This might have an influence on Treasury yields and the dollar's strength.

Among other asset classes, the yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds advanced one basis point to 4.77%

The dollar index rose 0.1%. The euro fell  0.3% to $1.0209 and British pound fell 0.6% to $1.2139. The Japanese yen rose 0.4% to 157.17 per dollar. 

In the commodities market, spot gold fell 0.8% to $2,667.93 an ounce. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, advanced 1.07% to $80.61 per barrel.

Bitcoin, the world's largest traded cryptocurrency fell 3.8% to $90,775.07.