The Dow Jones industrial average fell 38.47 to 5,434.59, sliding into the close of a sleepy session that contrasted sharply with the market's recent volatility.
Declining issues led advancers by an 8-to-5 margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 902 up, 1,464 down and 791 unchanged.
NYSE volume totaled 281.35 million shares vs. 349.85 million in the previous session.
Broad-market indexes also held near opening levels for much of the day before dipping in the last hour of trading.
The NYSE composite fell 2.23 to 338.64, and the S&P 500 list declined 5.00 to 630.90.
The Nasdaq composite dropped 10.31 to 1,069.13, and the American Stock Exchange's market value index fell 3.03 to 536.12.
"It was a hesitation-type day before the long list of economic data this week. Today's featureless because the news starts (Tuesday)," said Gregory Nie, technical analyst at Everen Securities in Chicago.
Stocks were pressured by falling bond prices, which sent the yield on the 30-year Treasury to 7.09 percent.
Despite the improving market sentiment that took hold late last week, many investors were waiting until the dust settles from this week's economic news.
Most prominent are tomorrow's report on the quarterly employment cost index and Friday's report on July employment and wage levels.