Wall Street slips off record highs, Tesla drops after fatal crash

By Herbert Lash

INTERNATIONAL – US stocks closed lower on Monday, slipping from last week’s record levels, as investors awaited guidance from first-quarter earnings to justify high valuations, while Tesla shares fell after a fatal car crash.

The electric-car maker slid 3.4 percent after a Tesla vehicle believed to be operating without anyone in the driver’s seat crashed into a tree on Saturday north of Houston, killing two occupants.

The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index. An 8.4 percent drop over the weekend in bitcoin, in which Tesla has an investment, also weighed on its share price.

The S&P 500 was mostly lower, with Microsoft, Amazon.com and Nvidia also weighing on the benchmark index as analysts await results this week and next that form the bulk of earnings season.