NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks declined on Monday, falling victim to the series of crises unfolding in Washington, where a second impeachment process is underway to remove Donald Trump as president.

Technology stocks took a beating, particularly Twitter which imposed a permanent ban on the president's Twitter account following last Wednesday's attack on the U.S. Capitol which resulted in a number of deaths and scores of injuries.

"After last week the market is in a little bit of a digestion phase. Underneath the surface what you're seeing continue is the reflation trade," Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta, Georgia told Reuters Thomson Monday. "This is a continuation of the expectation of more fiscal stimulus."

At the close of trading Monday the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite had lost 165.54 points or 1.25 percent to 13,036.43.

The Standard and Poor's 500 dropped 25.07 points or 0.66 percent to 3,799.61.

The Dow Jones industrials fell 89.78 points or 0.29 percent to 31,028.69.

The U.S. dollar which began ascending in Asia on Monday, picked up steam in European and U.S. trading.

At last call, the euro had fallen against the dollar to 1.2155. The British pound fell to 1.3522. The Japanese yen was weaker at 104.12. The Swiss franc declined to 0.8898.

The Canadian dollar fell to 1.2780. The Australian dollar was a fraction weaker at 0.7703. The New Zealand dollar weakened to 0.7169.

Overseas markets in line with their American counterparts were all doom and gloom as well. The FTSE 100 in London on Monday closed down 1.09 percent. The German Dax declined 0.80 percent. In Paris, the CAC 40 shed 0.78 percent.

On Asian markets, the Australian All Ordinaries was down 64.70 points or 0.92 percent at 6,959.50.

China's Shanghai Composite dived 38.61 points or 1.08 percent to 3,531.50.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng went against the trend, adding 30.00 points or 0.11 percent to 27,908.22.

Japanese markets were closed Monday for a public holiday.