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STORY: U.S. stocks closed lower Monday while Treasury yields rose, as traders lowered bets for another half a percentage point interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, worries over an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East also weighed on markets.

The Dow and S&P 500 dropped nearly one percent each while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell a little more than that.

Further dampening sentiment was Google parent Alphabet whose shares slipped more than two percent after a U.S. judge ordered the tech giant to overhaul its mobile-app business to give Android phone users more options.

And Amazon’s stock declined three percent after Wells Fargo cut its rating to equal weight from overweight.

But Prime Capital Financial's Director of Investments, Will McGough, remains upbeat on stocks through the end of 2024.

“With regards to the outlook for the rest of the year, I would still say optimism is the best case and probably the base case here. Typically, during election years, you see a little bit more volatility heading into Q4. We got that, but markets are still very close to all-time highs, which is extremely bullish. Markets are actually up eight of nine months this year, which again is bullish. We're looking at 20% gains year to date, 34% over the past year, which is bullish. And I'm saying the word bullish a lot, which means you got to stick with the trend.”

Goldman Sachs also is positive on the market.

The investment bank raised its 2024 year-end S&P 500 target to 6,000 from 5,600, and lowered its odds of a U.S. recession to 15% from 20%.

One other stock move of note: Pfizer, which added two percent, after a report that activist investor Starboard Value has taken a roughly $1-billion stake in the drugmaker.