US STOCKS-Wall Street slips off record highs, Tesla drops after fatal crash

* Tesla falls after fatal crash, bitcoin slumps
* GameStop shares jump as CEO exits
* Coca-Cola rises as revenue beats estimates

(Updates to close)
By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK, April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks closed lower on
Monday, slipping from last week's record levels, as investors
awaited guidance from first-quarter earnings to justify high
valuations, while Tesla Inc TSLA.O shares fell after a fatal
car crash.
The electric-car maker fell after a Tesla vehicle believed
to be operating without anyone in the driver's seat crashed into
a tree on Saturday north of Houston, killing two occupants.
The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 .SPX and
Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC . An 8.4% drop over the weekend in
bitcoin BTC=BTSP , in which Tesla has an investment, also
weighed on its share price.
The S&P 500 was mostly lower, with Microsoft Corp MFST.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Nvidia Corp NVDA.O also weighing
on the benchmark index as analysts await results this week and
next that form the bulk of earnings season.
Corporate outlooks should indicate to what degree the rally
from last year's lows can continue. Analysts expect
first-quarter earnings to have grown 30.9% from a year ago,
according to Refinitiv IBES data.
The U.S. economy is poised to boom as consumers hold $2
trillion in savings in excess of what they held before the
pandemic, said Doug Peta, chief U.S. investment strategist at
BCA Research, adding markets are in pause mode.
"If indeed we do keep grinding higher that would be healthy,
that would suggest that the grinding higher is sustainable,"
Peta said. "The pullbacks along the way are healthy."
Nvidia fell after the UK government said it would look into
the national security implications of Nvidia's purchase of
British chip designer ARM Holdings, raising a question mark over
the $40 billion deal. Coca-Cola Co KO.N rose after the beverage maker trounced
estimates for quarterly profit and revenue, benefiting from the
easing of pandemic curbs and wide vaccine rollouts. International Business Machines Corp IBM.N , another
blue-chip company, slipped ahead of its results due after the
market close.
"The market has had a huge jump to the upside so it needs to
take a little bit of rest," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
"For now it's just a little bit of profit taking as traders
await results from big tech names on Wall Street."
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
0.35% to end at 34,082.44 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX lost
0.52% to 4,163.64.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 0.98% to 13,914.77.
A recent retreat in benchmark 10-year Treasury yields
US10YT=RR from 14-month highs has helped high-flying
technology stocks to rebound, while strong economic data has
lifted the S&P 500 and the Dow to record levels.
The S&P 500 has gained the past four weeks, its longest
winning streak since August 2020.
GameStop Corp GME.N jumped on the announcement of its
chief executive's resignation. Crypto stocks including miners Riot Blockchain RIOT.O and
Marathon Digital MARA.O each slumped as bitcoin took a
hammering. Harley-Davidson Inc HOG.N jumped after the motorcycle
maker raised it full-year forecast for sales growth.