Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were mixed on Monday ahead of the start of the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting, as a sell-off in Apple (O:AAPL) shares and energy stocks weighed on the major indices.
Shares in Apple slumped more than 3% in Monday's session, after one of its top chip suppliers for its iPhone and iPad products posted worse than expected revenues for the third quarter. Dialog Semiconductors saw its third quarter sales increase by 18%, one quarter after its revenues surged by nearly 45%. Apple will report its third-quarter results on Tuesday after the close of trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Composite index fell mildly on Monday, halting a massive two-day rally. The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, inched up amid a rebound in Health Care and Pharmaceutical stocks. The Dow lost 23.65 or 0.13% to 17,623.05, while the NASDAQ added 2.84 or 0.06% to close Monday's session at 2,071.18. On the S&P 500, six of 10 sectors closed in the red, as the index fell 3.97 or 0.19% to close at 2,071.18. Stocks in the Consumer Services and Health Care industries led, while stocks in the Energy, Basic Material and Technology sectors lagged.
Apple ended Monday's session as the worst performer on the Dow, after falling 3.80 or 3.19% to 115.28. Shares in the world's largest company are still up by more than 10% over the last 52 weeks. The top performer was Microsoft Corporation (O:MSFT), which gained 1.38 or 2.61% to close at 54.25.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Baidu Inc (O:BIDU), which rose 8.64 or 5.48% to 166.24, after the Chinese online search engine announced that it completed a share exchange transaction with mainland China-focused travel agency Ctripcom International Ltd (O:CTRP). Shares in CTrip.com surged as much as 20% after it announced it would merge with Qunar Cayman Islands. The worst performer was Whole Foods Market Inc (O:WFM), which fell 1.58 or 4.89% to 30.70, after Cowen and Company cut the organic grocer's price target from $40 to $35, citing increased pressure from its competitors.
The top performer on the S&P 500 was Laboratory, which gained 5.79 or 5.17% to 117.74. Earlier on Monday, the company said its recent merger with contract-research organization Covance helped fuel a spike of more than 45% in revenue over its last quarter. The worst performer was Chesapeake Energy Corporation (N:CHK), which plunged 0.64 or 8.17% to 7.19. On Monday, U.S. crude futures fell more than 1% to drop below $44 a barrel, its lowest level in more than a month.
On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 1,925 to 1,167 margin.