Wall Street dips as banks, utilities weigh

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The fourth quarter got off to a weak start for U.S. stock investors on Monday, with banks and utilities pulling the S&P 500 lower.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 55.54 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,252.61, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 7.26 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,161.01 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 11.13 points, or 0.21 percent, to 5,300.87.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Sandra Maler)