Investing.com – U.S. stocks were flat in mixed trade after data released on Monday increased concerns over economic growth stateside and as investors awaited the Fed chair Janet Yellen’s scheduled appearance on Tuesday and any hints she might provide for the future of U.S. monetary policy.
At 15:49GMT or 11:49AM ET, the Dow 30 inched up 13 points, or 0.07%, while the S&P 500 edged forward 2 points, or 0.08%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite slipped 2 points, or 0.047%.
While personal spending inched up by a seasonally adjusted 0.1% last month, matching expectations, the increase for January was revised down to a paltry gain of 0.1% from a previously reported rise of 0.5%.
Personal income, for its part, rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.2%, above forecasts for a 0.1% gain and after rising 0.5% a month earlier.
The meager increase in personal outlays last month, coupled with the prior month’s downward revision, prompted the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta to slash its forecast for U.S. GDP growth in the first quarter to 0.6%, from the prior estimate of 1.4%.
As the Atlanta Fed explained, the forecast for real consumer spending growth in the first quarter was reduced to 1.8%, from the prior 2.5%, due to the report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The core PCE price index inched up 0.1% last month, below expectations for a gain of 0.2% and after rising 0.3% in January, while the core PCE price index rose at an annualized rate of 1.7%, missing estimates for 1.8% and after a 1.7% gain a month earlier.
The core PCE readings are often considered to be the Fed’s favorite measure of inflation and the lack of movement may support the dovish argument for the U.S. central bank to hold off on the path of policy tightening.
Indeed, the dollar showed weakness after the data with the US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, slipping 0.30% to 95.88.
In more positive economic data, pending home sales in the U.S. bounced back in February from the prior month’s decline, reaching a seven month high. The 3.5% increase handily beat consensus expectations for a gain of just 1.0%.
Meanwhile, oil prices were unable to maintain gains and lost around 1% on Monday despite data released last Thursday (prior to the long holiday weekend) from oilfield services provider Baker Hughes showing that the the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell by 15 last week to 372.
Experts continue to be wary that a meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers on April 17 will be able to achieve a meaningful impact to reduce the global supply glut with some market watchers going so far as to doubt if the meeting will even take place.
Furthermore, Barclays (LON:BARC) warned on Monday about the recent rally and suggested that an unwinding of long positions could push oil back down to near $30.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange lost 0.63% to $39.21 a barrel by 15:50GMT or 11:50AM ET, while Brent oil fell 0.85% to $40.68.
In company news, Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ:YHOO) rose just 0.4% after it was reported that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) executives were in talks with other potential investors to buy the internet portal.
Avon Products Inc (NYSE:AVP) gained almost 8% after the cosmetics maker announced an agreement to avoid a proxy fight.
China’s Angang Insurance Group raised its offer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) to challenge the merger with Marriot International (NASDAQ:MAR).
Cal-Maine Foods Inc (NASDAQ:CALM) shot up almost 7% after reporting a 26% increase in profit, easily beating Wall Street estimates.
Revlon Inc (NYSE:REV) tumbled 9% after announcing a new CEO, dashing hopes for a turnaround for the cosmetics maker via an outside acquisition.