NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Surging oil and gold prices sent stocks lower Monday, unsettling investors at the start of a busy week for Wall Street.

The tech heavy Nasdaq composite (down 14.95 to 2,311.16, Charts) sank 0.6 percent, managing to close off session lows. The Dow Jones industrial average (down 63.87 to 11,073.78, Charts) fell 0.6 percent while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 (down 3.79 to 1,285.33, Charts) index lost 0.3 percent.

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There are a number of substantial concerns hitting investors this week -- particularly, oil prices and interest rates, according to Hugh Johnson, chairman of asset management company Johnson Illington Advisors, which "is not a very good combination."

In addition, investors "are fairly concerned or cautious as we get near the heart of the earnings season," Johnson said. With reports from Intel (down $0.26 to $19.19, Research) and Apple (down $1.66 to $64.81, Research) due out Wednesday, "nobody seems to like or want to buy tech (stocks)."

However, earnings may not prove much of a catalyst going forward, said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co.

On one hand, first-quarter earnings for the S&P 500 are expected to have risen at least 10 percent from a year earlier, according to earnings tracker Thomson Financial. That would mark the 11th consecutive quarter of gains of at least 10 percent. But those strong gains may have already been anticipated and accounted for by market participants.

In addition, "earnings will be good, but guidance isn't going to be as upbeat as it has been in recent quarters," Hogan said.

Earnings reports are expected Tuesday morning from Dow component Johnson & Johnson (Research), as well as financial companies Merrill Lynch (Research) and Wells Fargo (Research).

Investors will also be eyeing the March readings on consumer prices and housing starts and building permits.

In particular, the "core" consumer price index , which excludes volatile energy and food prices, is a key inflation indicator investors and the Federal Reserve will be watching.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery climbed $1.08 to settle at $70.40 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, an all-time closing high, but below an intra-day trading high of $70.85 a barrel hit last August.

Oil prices have been rising steadily over the last week or two amid worries about Iran's nuclear capability.

COMEX gold for June delivery rose $18.70 to $618.80 an ounce, a fresh 25-year high. Investors typically pour money into gold as a hedge against inflation.

The rise in oil and gold prices weighed on market sentiment, reviving fears about inflation and its impact on the Fed's interest-rate hiking campaign. However, it also gave a lift to the underlying stocks.

A rally in oil, gold and silver stocks helped protect the broader market from steeper losses Monday.

In addition to gold, investors also put money back into bonds, responding to the benchmark 10-year note yield's recent rise above 5 percent.

The rise in Treasury prices sent the corresponding yields lower, with the 10-year note yield falling to 5.01 percent from 5.05 percent late Thursday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Technology stocks were hit hard, with the influential chip sector particularly weak.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor (down 7.52 to 500.44, Charts) sector, or the SOX, lost 1.5 percent. Advanced Micro Devices (down $1.20 to $30.60, Research), Broadcom (down $1.43 to $42.68, Research) and Intel (down $0.26 to $19.19, Research) were among the decliners.

Intel was one of many stocks weighing on the Dow industrials.

Other Dow losers included GM (down $0.36 to $20.04, Research), GE (down $0.60 to $33.29, Research), Home Depot (down $0.74 to $40.38, Research) and Hewlett Packard (down $0.59 to $32.03, Research). In all, 25 out of 30 Dow stocks fell.

One of the few Dow advancers was component Citigroup (up $0.30 to $48.35, Research), which added 0.6 percent. The financial leader reported higher quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts' forecasts as strong investment banking and international business tempered weak U.S. consumer business.

Among other movers, airlines slipped on worries about the surge in oil prices. AMR (down $2.27 to $23.63, Research), the parent company of American Airlines, JetBlue Airways (down $0.93 to $9.47, Research) and Continental Airlines (down $2.95 to $24.42, Research) all declined.

However, oil stocks rose, lifting the Amex Oil (up 20.41 to 1,128.04, Charts) index by 1.8 percent.

Gold and silver stocks gained in tune with the price of the commodities. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver (up 6.24 to 151.71, Charts) index added more than 4 percent.

TiVo (up $0.60 to $8.65, Research) also managed to buck the day's negative trend, rising more than 7 percent in active Nasdaq trade. Financial weekly Barron's said the maker of digital video recorders could be a takeover candidate.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers topped winners nine to seven on volume of 1.27 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners beat advancers by close to three to two on volume of roughly 1.81 billion shares.

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