By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks ended lower Monday, driven by investors locking in profits from AI-related technology shares that had recently tested record highs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.51%, or 249.04 points, to close at 48,461.93.

The Nasdaq fell 0.50%, or 118.75 points, to 23,474.35, while the S&P 500 lost 0.35%, or 24.20 points, to 6,905.74.

The Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the "fear index," rose 4.41% to 14.20.

As questions persist over whether AI-related spending will deliver promised returns, shares of US chipmaker Nvidia fell 1.2%. Palantir Technologies shares fell 2.4%, while Oracle shares lost 1.3%.

Markets will be closed Thursday for the New Year holiday, and trading volume is expected to be low this week, while the economic data calendar will also be relatively quiet.

Investors will closely monitor the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting in December and weekly jobless claims data.

On the macroeconomic data front, US pending home sales rose for the fourth straight month in November, hitting a nearly three-year high, the National Association of Realtors said Monday, driven by better affordability from slightly lower mortgage rates and increased inventory.

The data, which is a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on signed contracts, recorded an increase above expectations during the period in question.

On the corporate side, shares of DigitalBridge, an alternative asset manager investing in digital infrastructure, gained 9.6% after Japan-based SoftBank Group announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire the company for approximately $4 billion.