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US stocks had ended lower on Monday as investors worried about Greece and mulled the prospect of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates as early as September.
With investors growing more nervous about the timing of the Fed's first rate hike in nearly a decade, the Dow dipped into negative territory for 2015.
Stronger-than-expected May jobs data released on Friday prompted expectations of a Fed rate hike in September, sooner than some expected.
"The May jobs number is pointing in the direction of a more likely interest-rate hike. The market is cringing at that idea," said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities in New York.
Greece debt default
Also weighing on US investors, officials from Greece and the European Union met on Monday but there was little indication of progress to head off a potential Greek debt default when the country's bailout programme expires at the end of June.
"The news flow continues to revolve around Greece," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist and director of asset allocation at RidgeWorth Investments in Atlanta. "We're of the opinion that a successful resolution to the Greek problem remains a coin toss."
US dollar
The dollar retreated after a report - later denied - that President Barack Obama had expressed concern over its strength after a year-long rally.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 82.91 points or 0.46 per cent to end at 17,766.55. The S&P 500 lost 13.55 points or 0.65 per cent to 2,079.28 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 46.83 points or 0.92 per cent to 5,021.63.
Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the technology index's 1.2 per cent drop leading the losses.
With Monday's losses, the Dow is down 0.32 per cent in 2015, while the S&P 500 is up a modest 0.99 per cent and the Nasdaq is 6.02 per cent higher.
Atmel Corp jumped 3.56 per cent after Reuters reported the chipmaker is exploring strategic alternatives including a possible sale.
Apple weighed most on the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500. It was down 0.66 per cent to $127.80 after the iPhone maker unveiled a new music service.
Airlines stocks fell 4.34 per cent, with JetBlue slumping 7.22 per cent. Qatar Airways asked the industry's largest trade group to address protectionism, hitting back against US airlines campaigning to restrict competition from Gulf carriers.
Tesla rose 2.87 per cent after plans for its Gigafactory got a boost from Panasonic's move to start sending its employees to the plant, with manufacturing expected to begin next year.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,153 to 884, for a 2.44-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 1,785 issues fell and 1,004 advanced for a 1.78-to-1 ratio favouring decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 9 new 52-week highs and 9 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 131 new highs and 28 new lows.
About 5.5 billion shares changed hands on US exchanges, below the 6.1 billion daily average so far in June, according to BATS Global Markets.
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