LIVE MARKETS-Wall Street's record rally pauses for breath

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WALL STREET'S RECORD RALLY PAUSES FOR BREATH

Wall Street's main indexes eased from all-time highs on Monday with uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump announcement of a $100,000 annual fee for H-1B visas weighing on the sentiment.

However, it hardly impacted individual stocks in early trading.

While panic, confusion and anger reigned as many foreign workers from India and China were forced to abandon travel plans and rush back to the U.S. over the weekend, analysts said the business impact to should be moderate, given that the fees apply only to new applications.

Among sectors, 8 of the 11 major S&P sectors dropped with energy .SPNY down the most with its 0.6% slide. Tech .SPLRCT and consumer discretionary stocks .SPLRCD led the gainers.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that he does not currently see the need for further interest rate cuts this year due to inflation concerns.

That comes ahead of comments from a dozen Federal Reserve officials expected this week, including Chair Jerome Powell and new Governor Stephen Miran, as debate intensifies over whether the central bank should deliver another cut rates again next month after a quarter point move last week.

"We're in a data lull. While multiple FOMC members will speak today, last week’s cut is behind us, and earnings season doesn’t kick off for another two weeks," analysts at Bespoke Investment Group noted.

"Investors have seen some large gains over the last five months, so you can't fault anyone for wanting to take some profits."

It's shaping up to be another strong quarter for the three major indexes and in fact the small-cap Russell 2000 index .RUT, which joined the major averages in clinching a record high last week, leading the pack with its 12.6% gain this quarter.

The risk-off sentiment hit cryptocurrencies hardered.

Bitcoin BTC= dropped 2.1% to $11,2998, while ether ETH= shed a sharper 6.3% to $4,196, with data from crypto derivatives analysis site Coinglass showing heavy liquidations across crypto tokens.

The no. 2 cryptocurrency alone saw nearly $500 million worth of liquidation in long ether positions over the past day, per Coinglass data.

Here's a market snapshot as of 09:52 a.m. ET:

(Medha Singh)

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