By MATT JARZEMSKY and KAITLYN KIERNAN

A pullback in energy stocks, one of the strongest-performing sectors this year, helped push indexes lower to start the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 21.73 points, or 0.2%, to 13971.24, on Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index shed 0.92 point, or 0.1%, to 1517.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.87 points, or 0.1%, to 3192.

The S&P 500 energy sector shed 0.6%, leading the declines across seven of the index's 10 sectors. Southwestern Energy (SWN) fell 91 cents, or 2.6%, to $33.59. Heading into Monday, the sector, up 8.7% this year, had seen the strongest 2013 gains. The technology, financial and utilities sectors rose.

Composite volume on the New York Stock Exchange was its lowest this year, with 2.59 billion shares changing hands, compared with 2013's daily average of 3.49 billion.

Google (GOOG) fell 2.95, 0.4% to 782.42, from Friday's record close after the Internet search company said in a filing on Friday that its executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, plans to sell stock valued at $2.5 billion over the next year as he looks to cut his stake in Google by more than 40%.

Novo Nordisk/Reuters

Shares of Novo Nordisk fell 14% after the FDA said it needed more data on its insulin drug Tresiba. Above, a production line for the drug.

U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) tumbled 26.89, or 14% to 165.40, after the Food and Drug Administration said it needed more trial data before it could approve the Danish company's new insulin drug, Tresiba.

Starz (STRZA) rose 1.24, or 7.4% to 17.91, after extending its pay-television agreement with Sony (6758.TO)'s film business by five years. Rival Netflix (NFLX) fell 3.08, or 1.7%, to 177.89.

European markets traded mostly lower, with the Stoxx Europe 600 losing 0.6%. Greek borrowing costs rose, and shares slipped, as finance ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss Greece's progress in its rescue program, as well as proposed aid for Cyprus and plans for direct bank bailouts.

"People are starting to focus on when or if the European debt crisis is going to be resolved in a meaningful way," said Mike Shea, managing partner at Direct Access Partners, a New York brokerage. "If we're to believe that they've been successful in stabilizing, then now how do we get growth?"

Most Asian markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday, while Japan was shut for National Foundation Day. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2%, after closing Friday at its highest level since April 2010.

Crude-oil prices rose 1.4%, to settle at $97.03 a barrel, while gold fell 1.1%, to $1,648.20 a troy ounce. The dollar edged lower against the euro but rose against the yen. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 1.947% as prices rose.

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In other corporate news, Apple (AAPL) advanced 4.95, or 1%, to 479.93, to notch a third consecutive advance, its longest streak of gains since Nov. 26. The company is testing a watch-like device that would perform some functions of a smartphone, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ) climbed 91 cents, or 3.1% to 30.38, amid reports the exchange operator and buyout shop Carlyle Group (CG) discussed a deal to take Nasdaq private, though the talks didn't result in a transaction and aren't continuing.

Research In Motion (BB.T), which is changing its name to BlackBerry later this year, fell 76 cents, or 4.6% to 15.73, after news that Home Depot (HD) is transitioning some 10,000 employees to Apple's iPhones.

Mortgage-insurance provider Radian Group (RDN) declined 21 cents, or 3.1%, to 6.51, after it reported a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.

AOL (AOL) climbed 2.51, or 7.4% to 36.23, as analysts at RBC Capital Markets upgraded the Internet company to "outperform" from "sector perform," citing solid revenue-growth trends and reasonable valuation.

Charles Schwab (SCHW) fell 16 cents, or 1%, to 16.73, as Citigroup (C) downgraded the broker to "sell" from "neutral," after the company's winter business update disclosed a lack of operating leverage for 2013.

Write to Matt Jarzemsky at matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com and Kaitlyn Kiernan at kaitlyn.kiernan@dowjones.com