U.S. stocks ended slightly lower Monday, weighed by declines technology and tech-related shares, as concerns about inflation continued to buffet Wall Street, following the worst week for stocks since Feb. 26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished about 0.2% lower at 34,328, off the low for the day at 34,176.65, with shares of Walt Disney & Co. and Home Depot leading the blue-chip benchmark’s slide. The S&P 500 index closed off 0.3% at roughly 4,163, led lower by technology and communicatiion-services shares, while the Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 0.4% to 13,379, off a low of 13,265. The slump for stocks came as gold futures jumped, settling above their 200-day moving average and marking the highest finish for the most-active contract since early February. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida, the Fed’s No.2, said the U.S. economy had yet to reach the “substantial further progress” that would be needed to peel back accommodative policies, even as investors fear that inflation is set to run hotter than the central bank is predicting. In corporate news, AT&T shares fell 2.7% after it agreed to combine media assets with Discovery Inc. and spin them off into a new, publicly traded company. Shares of Disovery fell more than 5%.
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