U.S. Stocks Drop as Boeing Falls on Lower 737 Production

Wall Street stocks retreated early Monday, with Boeing especially weak at the start of a week that includes key Brexit negotiations and the start of earnings season.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 26,269.42, down 0.6 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent to 2,881.10, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.6 percent to 7,539.51.

The early losses were a departure from the optimism so far this year, which has lifted the S&P 500 by more than 15 percent on dovish U.S. monetary policy and hopes for a U.S.-China trade deal.

Key economic releases this week include consumer prices for March, while investors are looking ahead to earnings from JPMorgan Chase that will kick off the first-quarter reporting season. 

Expectations for earnings are low, a dynamic that some analysts think could boost stocks if companies outperform. CFRA Research projects companies in the S&P 500 will report a 2.7 percent fall in operating earnings-per-share.

Analysts are also looking ahead to Wednesday's EU summit on the latest Brexit extension request from British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Among individual companies, Dow member Boeing fell nearly four percent after slashing its production schedule for the embattled 737 line from 52 planes per month to 42 following the grounding of the 737 MAX after two crashes.