Stocks Backslide Across Globe

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stocks in New York pulled back sharply Monday, extending Friday's losses as overbought conditions and waning confidence in the economy spurred a global selloff.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 186.06 points, or 2%, to 9135.34, while the S&P 500 declined 24.36 points, or 2.4%, to 979.73. The Nasdaq Composite fared worst, losing 54.68 points, or 2.8%, to 1930.84.

Alcoa(AA) shed 6.5%, and industrials Caterpillar(CAT) and DuPont(DD) lost 4.5% and 4%, respectively, on the Dow.

An unexpected decline in U.S. consumer sentiment that weighed on stocks on Friday garnered even more concern at the start of the new week as more signs emerged that the economic recovery may be more drawn out than some had hoped.

Consumer sentiment data gave credence to disappointing retail sales data from earlier last week, and the market depends on the consumer, says Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at ChannelCapitalResearch.com.

"You've seen positive news in GDP, you've seen positive news in earnings, but ultimately, for this rebound to have legs, the consumer needs to come back a bit," says Roberts. "It's almost like people are looking for an excuse to take profits and are looking for more clarity as to what's happening with the consumer," he says.

Click below to hear Roberts discuss the pullback, the economy and where we go from here.

But it might be even simpler, says Jeff Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James, who adds, "no surprise here." Some indications show things were as overbought "as they've been in years," he says.