New York (AFP)

Wall Street ended lower on Monday, reserving its judgment at the start of a week marked by trade talks between Washington and Beijing, meetings of the US and European central banks and the British elections.

The index index of the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 0.38% to 27,909.60 points.

The Nasdaq, with strong technological color, lost 0.40% to 8,621.83 points and the broad S & P 500 index fell by 0.32% to 3,135.96 points.

"We are witnessing on Monday a little consolidation, profit taking, after a good progression last week," said Peter Cardillo of Spartan Capital Securities.

The indexes ended up higher in the previous three sessions, especially on Friday after a report on US employment better than expected.

Investors "are especially wondering now whether we will have progress on the front of trade negotiations," said Cardillo, pointing out that the Dow Jones was mainly weighted by the decline of Apple (-1.40%) and Boeing (-0.81%), two multinationals often reacting strongly to the ups and downs of relations between Washington and Beijing.

The administration of Donald Trump is expected to impose on December 15 a new salvo of taxes on about 160 billion dollars of Chinese imports. The goods covered include mobile phones and sportswear.

But the two sides continue to discuss and Beijing has made a gesture of goodwill indicating Friday that it would exempt from taxes some imports of pork and soy from the United States.

The US Central Bank will also hold its latest Monetary Policy Committee of the year, Tuesday and Wednesday, while Christine Lagarde will attend her first meeting of the European Central Bank as President of the institution.

Investors will also monitor consumer price and retail price indicators in the United States, which is important for gauging the health of the country's economy.

Another event closely scrutinized by the markets in the coming days, the United Kingdom will hold Thursday early decisive parliamentary elections for Brexit and the future of British relations with the European Union.

In the bond market, the 10-year rate on the US debt declined at 21:20 GMT to 1.824% against 1.836% at the close on Friday.

© 2019 AFP