Investing.com – U.S. stocks traded flat on Monday in a light economic calendar that showed worrisome news in the housing market and as market participants listened to the latest batch of Federal Reserve (Fed) officials’ comments and watched volatile trade in oil.
At 15:23GMT or 11:23AM ET, the Dow 30 inched up 9 points, or 0.05%, while the S&P 500 slipped less than a point, or 0.01%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite gained 7 points, or 0.14%.
In a light calendar day, the Chicago Fed national activity for February tumbled back into contraction nearing 2-year lows.
Bad news also came as the February existing home sales declined 7.1%, well below consensus expectations for a drop of 2.2%.
The reading caused Goldman Sachs to cut their GDP growth forecast for the first quarter to 2.3%, from 2.4%.
Amidst remarks from Federal Reserve officials, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker said earlier on Monday that U.S. inflation will likely accelerate in coming years and move toward the Fed's 2% target after the price of oil bottoms out.
San Francisco Fed president John Williams said that a rate hike was still on the table for the April or June meeting due to recent positive economic progress.
Still ahead, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart will speak on the economic outlook and monetary policy at 16:40GMT, or 12:40 ET, while St. Louis Fed President James Bullard speaks on economic inequality after the close at 20:30 ET.
Oil experienced volatile trade on Monday with crude wobbling back and forth after the U.S. rig count showed its first increase since December, according to the Baker Hughes data released on Friday and questions lingered on the effectiveness of the oil producer meeting scheduled for April 17.
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.88% to $41.50 a barrel by 15:25GMT or 11:25AM ET, while Brent oil gained 0.70% to $41.49.
In M&A activity, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) rose almost 4% after agreeing to accept a higher offer from Marriot International (NASDAQ:MAR) that beat out the proposal from China’s Anbang Insurance Group.
IHS Inc (NYSE:IHS) gained more than 7% after not only reporting better-than-expected earnings but also announcing a $13 billion deal to acquire Markit.
Valspar Corporation (NYSE:VAL) skyrocketed 24% after being bought by rival Sherwin-Williams Company (NYSE:SHW) for $9.3 billion in cash.
In other company news, Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) dropped a slight 0.3% after a report that it was among a handful of Wall Street firms being investigated for alleged rigging of the Treasuries market.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (NYSE:VRX) rebounded 7% after announcing that its CEO will leave and Bill Ackman had been appointed to the board.
Meanwhile, investors await as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) prepares for its launch event at 17:00GMT, or 13:00ET, where it is expected to unveil a smaller, cheaper iPhone on Monday aimed at emerging markets and possibly China, as it looks to reverse a decline in worldwide sales of its most important product.