Dow pulls back from 2023 highs as small caps outperform

U.S. stocks finished lower on Monday with the Dow pulling back from its 2023 highs, while a catch-up rally in small caps stretched to a fourth day. The S&P 500
SPX,
-0.54%
fell by 24.85 points, or 0.5%, to 4,569.78, according to preliminary closing data from FactSet. The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.84%
declined by 119.54 points, or 0.8%, to 14,185.49. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.11%
shed 41.06 points, or 0.1%, to 36,204.44. Market watchers blamed rising Treasury yields for the pullback in stocks, with the 10-year yield up more than 4 basis points at 4.266%. But while other indexes fell, the small-cap Russell 2000
RUT,
+1.04%
gained 16.76 points, or 0.8%, to 1,879.53. The small-cap index has outperformed the Nasdaq by more than 5.5 percentage points over the past four sessions, the best such stretch since June, according to Dow Jones Market Data.