U.S. stocks' uncertainties over Greece, fiscal cliff (2)

Conflicts between the two parties mainly rested on tax policy. Republicans favor raising federal tax revenue by limiting deductions, while Democrats are inclined to lift tax rates for people with high income.

Retail stocks including Bestbuy, Ebay and Amazon were the focus of the investors after strong holiday shopping data. Best Buy jumped 6.7 percent for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 to 12.48 dollars, while EBay rose 4.9 percent to 51.40 dollars and Amazon gained 1.6 percent to 243.62 dollars.

According to the National Retail Federation, a record 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the Black Friday weekend, up from 226 million last year. NRF estimates that overall retail sales in November and December will rise 4.1 percent this year to 586.1 billion dollars.

However, gains were checked after analysts warned that only a sustainable strong consumer spending can boost the economy.

In other market, the U.S. dollar gained against most of its major counterparts on Monday as uncertainties contracted market risk appetite and pushed up demand for dollar as a safe-heaven asset.

Light, sweet crude for January delivery lost 54 cents, or 0.61 percent to settle at 87.74 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery also dropped and last traded below 111 dollars a barrel.

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