Wall Street slips from record highs

Wall Street fell from record highs, while Treasuries rose, as investors locked in some profits from the post-US-election rally.

In 1.11pm trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.3 per cent. In 12.56pm trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.2 per cent.

"US stocks have soared since the election," Adam Sarhan, chief executive at 50 Park Investments, told Reuters. "At this point, it would be perfectly normal to see the market pull back a bit to digest the very strong move."

"Technically, the market is very overbought and just about everyone out there, including the strongest bulls, want to see a nice orderly consolidation," Sarhan noted.

The Dow fell as slides in shares of Nike and those of American Express, down 1.2 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively, outweighed gains in Verizon Communications and those of IBM, up 0.8 per cent each respectively.

US Treasuries rose, pushing yields on the benchmark 10-year note four basis points lower to 2.32 per cent.That also weighed on the US dollar.

"Dollar-yen looks to be struggling as the 10-year Treasury note opens for the week with a further step lower in yield," Sean Callow, senior strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Sydney, told Bloomberg. "Any signs that Treasuries' Trump tantrum is waning will hurt yield-sensitive dollar-yen."

Bucking the trend, shares of Time rallied, trading 20.3 per cent higher as of 1.28pm in New York, after the New York Post reported the publisher had rejected a takeover bid from billionaire investor Edgar Bronfman Jr. Bronfman, who is teaming up with Len Blavatnik's Access Industries, recently submitted a bid to buy the company for US$18 a share, according to the newspaper.

In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the day with a 0.8 per cent decline from the previous close. The UK's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.6 per cent, while France's CAC 40 Index retreated 0.9 per cent, and Germany's DAX Index shed 1.1 per cent.

European bank shares fell. Up to eight Italian banks risk failing if Prime Minister Matteo Renzi loses a December 4 referendum on constitutional reform, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

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Oil prices rose. OPEC ministers are struggling to finalise the details of an agreement to curb production to stem a global glut. Disagreements over the production levels of Iran and Iraq remained a stumbling block in a Monday meeting, according to Reuters.

"Saudi Arabia and Iran are all playing very strong negotiation tactics," Abhishek Deshpande, chief energy analyst at Natixis SA in London, told Bloomberg.

"The problem for Saudi Arabia is that this isn't the 1980s and 1990s, when it could use its clout and expect others to follow. Today members like Iran and Iraq are equally strong and their agenda is to ensure they get a large market share."