U.S. stocks end mixed, with Dow, S&P 500 retreating from psychologically important levels

U.S. stocks ended mixed Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 retreating from their psychologically important levels in early trading, as the market took a breather after last week's record rally.The blue-chip Dow rose 14.32 points, or 0.09 percent, to 15,976. 02, another all-time closing high. The broader S&P 500 fell 6.65 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,791.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 36.90 points, or 0.93 percent, to 3,949.07.Shortly after Monday's opening bell, the blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 pierced through the psychologically important levels of 16, 000 points and 1,800 points for the first time, respectively, as investor confidence was boosted by China's sweeping reform plans and expectations of continued easy money policy by the U.S. Federal Reserve.Moreover, the morning rally also took the tech-heavy Nasdaq near its 4,000-point level, not seen since September 2000.However, the market was under pressure after New York Fed President William C. Dudley said he's "getting more hopeful" about the U.S. economy, signaling that the central bank may reduce stimulus.Major stock indices accelerated to fall in the final hour of trading after activist investor Carl Icahn was reported to say Monday he is "very cautious" on the stock market and expects to see a "big drop."Last week, the Dow and the S&P 500 logged their sixth straight week of gains on speculations that the Fed is not in a hurry to trim its quantitative easing program following a dovish testimony from Fed chair nominee Janet Yellen, who said Thursday that the U. S. central bank needs to do more to bolster the economic recovery as she testified in her confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. 

Investors are keeping an eye on the incumbent Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday's release of the minutes of the Fed's October meeting to get further clues about the central bank's future policy orientation.On the economic front, U.S. builder confidence in the market for newly built,Vintage bath fixtures single-family homes remained unchanged in November from a downwardly revised level of 54 in the prior month, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released Monday.With the holiday season approaching, the October U.S. retail sales and consumer price index due out Wednesday and the October producer price index due out Thursday will be important data releases of this week.In other markets, the U.S.garage equipments dollar fell against most major currencies Monday as market risk appetite expanded after China released sweeping reform plans last Friday.In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.3500 dollars from 1.3490 dollars of the previous session. The greenback bought 100. 06 Japanese yen, lower than 100.23 yen of the previous session.Cast iron clawfoot tubsOil prices slipped Monday. Light, sweet crude for December delivery lost 81 cents to settle at 93.03 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while Brent crude for January delivery moved down 3 cents to close at 108.47 dollars a barrel.Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended lower. The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 15.1 dollars, or 1.17 percent, to settle at 1,272.3 dollars per ounce.