Wall Street flat as investors eye inflation figures
US stocks were essentially unchanged at the close of a choppy session on Monday, with a solar eclipse offering distraction ahead of crucial inflation data and the kick-off of first-quarter earnings season. The S&P 500 and the Dow posted minimal losses while the Nasdaq ended nominally higher. All three were held in check by the highest benchmark US Treasury yields since November in the wake of Friday's blowout employment report. That report heightened chances that the Federal Reserve could delay implementing its first interest rate cut at its monthly Federal Open Market Committee meetings longer than previously expected. "Wall Street is adjusting expectations to reflect the fact that the Fed could be slower to lower interest rates and that now the greatest likelihood is for a rate cut to occur at the July FOMC meeting, rather than June," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of CFRA Research in New York. On Wednesday, the Labor Department's March Consumer Price Index (CPI) report is expected to show a slight cooldown in monthly price growth and a nominal decrease in the annual core number, which excludes volatile food and energy items. "It's probably a better day to watch the eclipse than it is to trade stocks," said Jay Hatfield, CEO and portfolio manager at InfraCap in New York. "I don't think anybody wants to really reposition one way or the other ahead of CPI." Year-on-year headline CPI is expected to gain some heat, rising to 3.4 percent from 3.2 percent in February, underscoring inflation's meandering journey back to the Fed's 2 percent annual target. The first-quarter reporting season officially kicks off on Friday with numbers from major US banks JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.03 percent, to 38,893. The S&P 500 lost 0.04 percent, at 5,202 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.03 percent, at 16,254. Tesla provided a boost, rising 4.9 percent after CEO Elon Musk said the company would unveil its self-driving Robotaxi on August 8. (Reuters)