US STOCKS-S&P 500 closes nearly flat as investors await inflation data

KOSS

13/05/2024 21:01

(Adds preliminary closing prices at 04:00 p.m. ET/ 2000 GMT)
    By Sinéad Carew and Sruthi Shankar
       May 13 (Reuters) - 
    The S&P 500 closed barely changed on Monday as investors
took a breather after three weekly gains and awaited key
inflation readings and earnings reports due this week while a
survey showed consumers concerned about inflation. 
    A Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey, released on
Monday, found that Americans see inflation at 3.3% a year from
now from March’s 3% while they expect inflation three years from
now at 2.8%. On Friday, a University of Michigan report showed
U.S. consumer sentiment sagged to a six-month low in May as
households worried about the cost of living.
        Last week the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500 both
finished three weeks of gains, boosted by strong earnings
reports, and signs of a cooling labor market that fueled bets of
one or two Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.
    Investors were cautiously awaiting April's Consumer Price
Index (CPI) data due out on Wednesday. They will also be
monitoring producer price index data, retail sales data, weekly
jobless claims and earnings reports from big retailers Home
Depot  HD.N  and Walmart  WMT.N , all due this week.
        "Investors are like somebody looking out the window
trying to see what the weather's like before deciding what to
wear. Today and tomorrow are going to be all about Wednesday's
consumer inflation report," said Burns McKinney, portfolio
manager at NFJ Investment Group in Dallas.
  
        "In the last 3 months that's been the single biggest
mover. Each of these times inflation's come in a little bit
stickier than investors had expected. Each time that's happened
investors have ratcheted back expectations for interest rate
cuts." 
  
        According to preliminary data, the S&P 500
 .SPX  lost 0.94 points, or 0.02%, to end at 5,221.74 points,
while the Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC  gained 49.55 points, or
0.30%, to 16,390.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
 .DJI  fell 79.17 points, or 0.20%, to 39,433.67.
  
        Anthony Saglimbene, Ameriprise chief market strategist,
said  the "marked deterioration in consumer sentiment and rising
expectations around inflation" from the consumer sentiment
surveys puts even more weight on the upcoming inflation data.
  
        "Stocks are just kind of stuck in this really tight
trading range until we get some more information on inflation
trends," said Saglimbene.
        Core consumer prices are expected to have risen 0.3% on
a month-over-month basis in April and 3.6% on an annual basis
according to economist forecasts in a Reuters poll ahead of
Wednesday's release. 
        Fed Vice Chair Phillip Jefferson said he supports
keeping interest rates steady until it is clear that price
pressures are moderating. 
    Alphabet  GOOGL.O  fell slightly as Microsoft-backed OpenAI
looked set to announce its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered
search product. Meta Platform  META.O  was down also declined. 
    Apple  AAPL.O  shares rose after a report said it had closed
in on an agreement with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to use the
startup's technology on the iPhone.
    Meanwhile, shares of videogame retailer GameStop  GME.N 
jumped soared after "Roaring Kitty", a former marketer at an
insurance firm credited with sparking the 2021 meme stock rally,
returned to X.com after a three-year hiatus.
    Other highly shorted names involved in the 2021 meme rally
including AMC Entertainment  AMC.N  and Koss Corp  KOSS.O  also
rose on Monday.

 (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru;
Editing by Devika Syamnath, Shinjini Ganguli and David Gregorio)
 ((sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com; +13322191897;))