Stocks slip from records as optimism over economic recovery pauses

• US stocks slipped from records as the economic-optimism fueled recovery took a breather Monday.
• Major semiconductor stocks fell after Nvidia announced plans to manufacture its own CPU processor.
• Investors are awaiting key inflation data due tomorrow.

All three major US indexes ended lower to start the week as investors take a breather from the economic recovery-fueled optimism that sent stocks to record highs on Friday.

Wall Street is now awaiting earnings later this week and key inflation data that's due Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters expect the consumer price inflation index to jump 2.5% from 1.7% year on year in February. But there's a risk that the Fed and economists are unprepared for the magnitude of economic growth and inflation, according to Bank of America.

Semiconductor stocks swerved Monday,with Intel and AMD each falling about 4% after Nvidia announced plans to manufacture its own CPU processor. The news sent shares of Nvidia surging by as much as 4%.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. ET close on Monday:

• S&P 500: 4,128.11, down 0.02%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 33,745.86, down 0.16% (54.74 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 13,850.00, down 0.36%

Canaccord Genuity upgraded Tesla to a "buy" rating on Monday, with analyst Jed Dorsheimer explaining that Tesla's budding energy storage business has long-term potential. Tesla jumped as high as 3.9%.

Veteran investor Danny Moses compared the stock-market boom to the dot-com bubble, underscored the dangers of excessive leverage and liquidity, and called for the Federal Reserve to temper its stimulus efforts in a recent interview. Here are his 16 best quotes.

Bitcoin rose as much as 2.6% to $61,229 as the crypto world prepares for Coinbase's direct listing on Wednesday. The surge took the coin close to its all-time high of $61,742 reached on March 1.

West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.7%, to $59.71 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 0.5% to $63.30 a barrel.

Gold slipped 0.8%, to $1,731.70 per ounce.