Stocks were flat Monday after key stock benchmarks reached record highs and investors awaited inflation data slated for release later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 56 points, or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite traded near the flatline.
Amazon joined the 30-stock Dow on Monday, replacing Walgreens Boots Alliance. The Dow’s holdings are weighted according to stock price, not market cap. The addition of the e-commerce giant will increase the index’s exposure to tech and consumer retail. Amazon shares fell 0.3%.
Treasury yields climbed higher Monday, providing another dent to the equity market. The 10-year Treasury yield was last higher by around 4 basis points to 4.301%.
Stocks are coming into the final week of February on a high note after the major indexes achieved key milestones and registered winning weeks with help from Nvidia’s blockbuster earnings.
Investors are now watching whether the AI momentum can last as economic and inflation risks linger. With that in mind, they’re also looking ahead to the monthly personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s favored inflation gauge due out Thursday.
For the time being, the AI-powered rally appears sustainable, according to Alex McGrath, chief investment officer at NorthEnd Private Wealth.
Investor sentiment towards stocks has risen thanks to a better-than-expected earnings season, according to Oppenheimer chief investment strategist John Stoltzfus. This comes “even as markets have had to digest the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will remain highly vigilant regarding sticky inflation when it comes to considering if, when, and by how much it might cut interest rates this year.”
New home sales in January came in below economists’ estimates as mortgage interest rates remained elevated. Sales of new single-family homes came in at 661,000 for the month, an increase of 1.5%, according to seasonally adjusted numbers the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development released Monday. The total missed the Dow Jones estimate for 680,000 and 2.4%, respectively.
There’s a raft of economic releases on deck, including January durable orders data on Tuesday an
