Despite early records, Wall Street ends lower

NEW YORK (AA) – Despite reaching record high levels during trading hours Monday, Wall Street ended the day lower after investors positioned themselves to sell strongly in order to profit.

In early hours of trading, the S&P 500 climbed to 2,185 and the Nasdaq jumped to 5,228 to mark new all-time record-highs, fueled in part by strong July jobs numbers released Friday.

But investors looked to take profits later in the day and began a strong sell-off, according to analysts.

The Dow Jones fell 14 points to close at 18,529. The S&P 500 was down two points to 2,181 and the Nasdaq lost eight points to 5,213.

American communications and media giant, Viacom, lost 2.6 percent of its share value, while the stock price of Netflix fell 2 percent.

Crude prices, on the other hand, were on the rise Monday.

At the final bell, the American oil benchmark was up 2.5 percent to $42.84, while international benchmark Brent crude was at $45.19 -- gaining 2.1 percent.