Investing.com – Wall Street showed mixed trade on Monday as the S&P struggled for gains, as investors kept an eye on the turnaround in oil prices and digested commentaries related to the future path of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy.
At 15:41GMT, or 11:41AM ET, the Dow Jones dropped 50 points, or 0.32%, while the S&P 500 inched down less than a point, or 0.02%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded up 14 points, or 0.29%.
Despite a hefty rally in early European trade as huge wildfires in rural Canada reduced oil output by more than a third, oil reversed direction as investors became cautious over further upside in black gold.
Markets also mulled the appointment of Khalid al-Falih as Saudi Arabia's new oil minister. The chairman of the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco replaces 20-year veteran Ali al-Naimi.
The change is unlikely to mean a shift in Saudi oil policy. Falih said on Sunday that the world's largest crude exporter was committed to meeting demand and would maintain its stable petroleum policies.
U.S. crude futures lost 2.33% to $43.62 a barrel by 15:43GMT or 11:43AM ET, while Brent oil traded down 3.31% to $43.87.
At 15:44GMT, or 11:44AM ET, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was trading up 0.25% at 94.06, as investors digested commentaries on the suspected timing for the next rate hike in a session with no major economic data.
In an interview with The New York Times, New York Fed chief William Dudley said it was a “reasonable expectation” for the U.S. central bank to raise rates twice this year.
Chicago Fed president Charles Evans showed an upbeat outlook on the U.S. economy on Monday, though he was concerned about the inflation outlook and insisted that the Federal Reserve’s current stance of waiting to observe the data before making further moves to remove accommodative policy was appropriate.
Even though Friday’s nonfarm payrolls caused traders to cut the odds of a rate hike at the next meeting in June to just 6%, some Fed officials had kept the possibility on the table.
Bond guru Bill Gross warned in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday that he wasn’t “so sure that June is out.”
“Yellen, more than jobs, is focused on wages. At 2.5%, they’re moving up,” he said.
In another appearance on Monday, Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari will give a speech to the Economic Club of Minnesota at 17:00GMT, or 13:00ET.
In earnings news, Tyson Foods Inc (NYSE:TSN) rose more than 3% after adjusted quarterly profit beat consensus.
Teva Pharma Industries Ltd (NYSE:TEVA) gained more than 3% after reporting a better-than-expected first quarter earnings-per-share.
On the downside, Sotheby’s (NYSE:BID) fell more than 3% after reporting larger than expected losses and missing on revenue in the first quarter.
In other company news, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc (NYSE:KKD) jumped more than 24% after a subsidiary of JAB Holding offered about $1.35 billion for the company.
LendingClub Corp (NYSE:LC) tumbled approximately 25% after the Renaud Laplanche resigned as chief executive officer and chairman of the online lending platform.