<p>US stocks started the week in the red, pulling back early Monday as continued inflation fears overwhelmed good news about the economic recovery.</p>.<p>But analysts said the concerns, including Boeing's latest setback, were a good excuse for investors to take profits out of high-flying stocks.</p>.<p>On the plus side, the US Congress is moving towards approving a huge $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package. But Treasury markets reflect fears that borrowing rates may rise sooner than expected, despite repeated assurances from the Federal Reserve.</p>.<p>"The skittishness toward a rising interest rate environment seems to be countering the bullish backdrop of extremely accommodative global monetary and fiscal policies," Schwab analysts said.</p>.<p>About 30 minutes into the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.3 per cent to 31,387.96.</p>.<p>The broad-based S&P 500 fell about 0.5 per cent to 3,888.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was the big loser dropping 1.0 per cent to 13,734.06.</p>.<p>Markets will be watching Fed Chair Jerome Powell's two days of testimony in Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he is likely to repeat his oft-stated message that the central bank has no plans to raise the benchmark interest rate until employment has recovered and inflation begins to rise.</p>.<p>Boeing dropped 1.1 per cent after an engine failure in one of its 777 aircraft forced an emergency landing of a flight out of Denver, and prompted grounding of 128 planes with the same Pratt & Whitney engine.</p>
<p>US stocks started the week in the red, pulling back early Monday as continued inflation fears overwhelmed good news about the economic recovery.</p>.<p>But analysts said the concerns, including Boeing's latest setback, were a good excuse for investors to take profits out of high-flying stocks.</p>.<p>On the plus side, the US Congress is moving towards approving a huge $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package. But Treasury markets reflect fears that borrowing rates may rise sooner than expected, despite repeated assurances from the Federal Reserve.</p>.<p>"The skittishness toward a rising interest rate environment seems to be countering the bullish backdrop of extremely accommodative global monetary and fiscal policies," Schwab analysts said.</p>.<p>About 30 minutes into the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 0.3 per cent to 31,387.96.</p>.<p>The broad-based S&P 500 fell about 0.5 per cent to 3,888.34, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was the big loser dropping 1.0 per cent to 13,734.06.</p>.<p>Markets will be watching Fed Chair Jerome Powell's two days of testimony in Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he is likely to repeat his oft-stated message that the central bank has no plans to raise the benchmark interest rate until employment has recovered and inflation begins to rise.</p>.<p>Boeing dropped 1.1 per cent after an engine failure in one of its 777 aircraft forced an emergency landing of a flight out of Denver, and prompted grounding of 128 planes with the same Pratt & Whitney engine.</p>