US stocks slide, extending a weak start to 2014

Associated Press
FILE - In this Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, file photo, stock trader Gregory Rowe works at the New York Stock Exchange, in New York. Stocks are getting off to a mixed start, Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, on the first full week of trading of the year. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are lower, continuing a weak start to the New Year.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 44 points, or 0.3 percent, to 16,425 Monday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell four points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,826. The Nasdaq composite fell 18 points, or 0.4 percent, to 4,113.

The S&P 500 has fallen three times in a row to start 2014, the weakest start to a year since 2005. The market remains near a record high.

Best Buy, one of top performers in the S&P 500 last year, fell 3 percent after a competitor said it expects to report lower holiday sales.

Wendy's slumped 3 percent after the stock was downgraded by analysts at Janney Capital Markets, who said sales could be weak in the fourth quarter.