Stocks fell lower on Monday after investors looked ahead toward key economic data due out later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank over 240 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite lost about 0.6% each.

Here's how the market settled on Monday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): -0.61% or -37.42 points to 6,052.85

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.54% or -240.59 points to 44,401.93

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): -0.62% or -123.08 points to 19,736.69

In Focus:

Bank of America analyst Gonzalo Asis wrote in a note on Sunday that December's market will be defined by the final Federal Open Market Committee meeting and the last consumer price index reading of the year.

"We believe the two remaining major events of the year (CPI and FOMC) can set the near-term direction of the market," Asis wrote. "A softer print can clear the path for a year-end rally, with the second half of December being the second strongest period of the year, up 1.0% on average."

"On the contrary, a firmer print can revamp volatility, especially after the 5% post-election rally," the analyst added.

In the News:

Nvidia (NVDA  ) shares fell on Monday after China's State Administration for Market Regulation opened an investigation into the chipmaker over possible antimonopoly behaviors related to its acquisition of Mellanox. Nvidia had acquired the Israeli network solution maker for data centers and servers in 2020.

Hershey (HSY  ) shares rose higher on Monday after Bloomberg News reported that Mondelez (MSLZ  ) is attempting to purchase the popular chocolate maker. Any bid to buy Hershey must win the approval of the Hershey Trust, which holds 80% voting power. Mondelez had previously moved to takeover Hershey in 2016, with the $23 billion bid being rejected by the company.

Comcast (CMCSA  ) Cable CEO Dave Watson told investors at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference on Monday that the company expects to lose more than 100,000 broadband subscribers in its fourth quarter, citing a "competitively intense," market from rivals Verizon (VZ  ) and T-Mobile (TMUS  ).

ByteDance's TikTok warned in a court filing Monday that U.S. small businesses and creators would lose $1.3 billion in revenue and earnings in just one month if the social media app is banned in the country on Jan. 19. Blake Chandlee, president of global business solutions for TikTok, noted in the filing that "those numbers would only increase if the shutdown extends for more than a month."

"Almost two million creators in the United States would suffer almost $300 million in lost earnings, and TikTok itself would lose 29% of our targeted global advertising revenue for 2025," Chandlee wrote, adding that more than 7 million U.S. accounts use TikTok for business as of November 2024.

For Tuesday:

Market participants will turn their attention towards earnings reports from companies including Oracle (ORCL  ), Toll Brothers (TOL  ) and C3.ai (AI  ).