US stocks fall ahead of start of earnings season

US stocks closed lower Monday amid profit taking from last week's rally and caution on the eve of the start of corporate earnings season. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 51.23 points (0.38 percent) at 13,383.98 in closing trade. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 4.68 points (0.32 percent) to 1,461.79, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged down 2.84 (0.09 percent) to 3,098.81. Stocks gave back some of their gains from last week "amid some cautious afternoon trading preceding tomorrow's unofficial commencement of 4Q earnings season by Dow member Alcoa Inc's report after the closing bell," Charles Schwab & Co. analysts said.