*

Boeing ( BA ) gains after offering new wage deal

*

Humana, Cigna ( CI ) fall after report companies resumed merger

talks

*

114 S&P 500 companies to report results this week

*

Nvidia ( NVDA ) briefly touches record high

*

Indexes: Dow down 0.85%, S&P 500 down 0.29%, Nasdaq flat

(Updated at 2:15pm ET/6:15pm GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Purvi Agarwal and Carolina Mandl

Oct 21 (Reuters) -

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell on Monday,

as investors awaited earnings from major companies to gauge

whether equities will sustain the recent rally that has brought

six straight weekly gains.

"It's not at all unusual for the market to want to take

a little bit of a breather after six weeks of continually record

highs," said Carol Schleif, chief investment officer at BMO

Family Office.

At 02:15 p.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell

368.73 points, or 0.85%, to 42,907.18, the S&P 500 lost

17.04 points, or 0.29%, to 5,847.63 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 11.04 points, or 0.06%, to 18,500.59.

A jump in Treasury yields added pressure, with the yield

on the benchmark 10-year bond rising as high as 4.17%, a 12-week

high.

"Rates are going up because there is a thought that

maybe the Federal Reserve won't cut two times before the year's

over. You see economic data coming in a little bit stronger than

anticipated," said David Laut, chief investment officer at

Abound Financial.

Most rate-sensitive megacap technology stocks slipped,

with Tesla down 1.3%, and Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta

Platforms ( META ) both losing 0.4%.

After a fairly upbeat start to earnings season, the

focus is on the 114 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report this

week. These include Tesla, Coca-Cola and Texas

Instruments ( TXN ).

Of companies that have reported so far, 83.1% beat

earnings estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG on

Friday.

Some traders were likely booking profits, Tim Ghriskey,

senior portfolio strategist with Ingalls & Snyder, said.

On Friday, the Dow and the S&P 500 both closed at record

highs as all three major indexes closed out a sixth consecutive

week of gains, their longest winning streak this year.

Monday's declines were broad, with almost all 11 major

S&P 500 sectors in the red, except for Information Technology

.

The rate-sensitive Real Estate sector dropped

1.77% as yields rose, while the technology sector was lifted by

a 3% jump in chip heavyweight Nvidia ( NVDA ), which briefly

touched a fresh record high.

The economically sensitive small-cap Russell 2000

dropped 1.4%.

Investors also looked ahead to the upcoming U.S.

presidential election, with polls showing the chances improving

for former President Donald Trump, the Republican candidate.

"As the election date approaches, even small changes in

tight polls could drive seemingly erratic swings in market

sentiment," Danske Bank analysts said.

Meanwhile, Boeing ( BA ) jumped 3.2% after news that

workers could vote on a new deal to end a costly five-week

strike.

Spirit Airlines ( SAVE ) skyrocketed 51.7% after the company

reached an agreement to extend a debt refinancing deadline by

two months.

Humana slipped 1.82% after a report said Cigna ( CI )

had resumed merger talks with the health insurer. Cigna's ( CI )

shares lost 4.32%.

Home sales, flash PMI and durable goods reports are on

the data docket through the week, as is the Fed's Beige Book.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.83-to-1

ratio on the NYSE. There were 226 new highs and 39 new lows on

the NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 82 new highs and 41 new

lows.