*

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 ) touched record high

(Updates at 4pm ET/8pm GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal, Purvi Agarwal and Carolina Mandl

Oct 21 (Reuters) -

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed lower on

Monday, retreating from Friday's record high closes and six

straight weekly gains as Treasury yields rose and investors wary

of high valuations awaited earnings from major companies.

"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.

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

lost 9.89 points, or 0.17%, to end at 5,854.78 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 50.45 points, or

0.27%, to 18,539.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 338.80 points, or 0.78%, to 42,932.84.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury jumped as

high as 4.17%, a 12-week high.

"The rise in the 10-year yield is causing confusion that

maybe the economy is growing too rapidly and that employment

remains too resilient," said Sam Stovall, chief investment

strategist at CFRA Research. "As a result, the Fed might end up

being slower to lower interest rates."

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.

Many rate-sensitive megacap technology stocks slipped,

such as Tesla.

After a fairly upbeat start to earnings season, the

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

week. These include Tesla, Coca-Cola and Texas

Instruments ( TXN ).

Ahead of a busy week for earnings, some investors likely

took some profits, according to analysts. David Laut, chief

investment officer at Abound Financial, said the market was

looking at how stretched valuations are.

Of companies that have reported so far, 83.1% beat

earnings estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG on

Friday.

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

S&P 500 sectors in the red.

The rate-sensitive Real Estate sector dropped

as yields rose, while the technology sector was lifted by a jump

in chip heavyweight Nvidia ( NVDA ), which touched a fresh

record high.

The economically sensitive small-cap Russell 2000

dropped.

Investors also looked ahead to the U.S. presidential

election, with polls showing 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 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 after a report said Cigna ( CI ) had

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

also fell.

Home sales, flash PMI and durable goods reports are on

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