Wall Street shares fall as oil prices rise

(Close): Late day selling led US markets to close lower on Monday, erasing gains made over the previous two weeks.

The Dow Jones fell 123.88 points, or 0.74%, to 16,516.09.

The S&P 500 lost 15.87 points, or 0.81%, to 1,932.18, while the tech-focused Nasdaq index slipped 32.52 points, or 0.71%, to 4,557.95.

Investors blamed the fall in share prices on profit taking as markets fell out of step with oil prices.

"There's been some profit-taking as we had a good two-week run," said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.

Brent and US crude both rose 3.4% after Saudi Arabia said it would work with other producers to limit oil market volatility.

Exxon Mobil fell 2% and Chevron fell 1%.

Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals were down more than 18% after it emerged that the company is being investigated by US securities regulators.

Valeant shares began falling early in the day, following an announcement that the company's chief executive was returning from medical leave, and that it would delay the release of its quarterly results.

Bank shares also fell on Monday. Bank of America slipped 1.4% while Citigroup fell 1.7% and JPMorgan 2.2%.

Signet Jewelers, which owns the H Samuel chain in the UK, was one of Monday's few winners. Its shares climbed 9.4% after reporting better than expected results for its most recent quarter.