Investing.com -- U.S. stocks wobbled early on Monday as investors anticipate earnings reports from major retailers and retail sales data for July that could shed more light on the health of the American consumer.
At 9:33 ET (13:33 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 9 points or less than 0.1%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.2% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.4%.
The main equities indices have had a tricky start to August, with the broad-based S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both falling last week, the Nasdaq’s first two-week losing streak of the year.
The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, posted small gains last week, its fourth positive week in five.
Fed minutes to offer monetary policy clues
Inflation data at the end of last week came in a touch stronger than expected, causing Treasury yields to rise as investors factored in the possibility of the Federal Reserve continuing to tighten monetary policy in September.
However, this is not the prevailing wisdom, with Goldman Sachs speaking for many when it expects the central bank to pause in September and then declare in November that a moderation in inflation means that a final hike would be "unnecessary."
The influential investment bank then sees the Fed starting to cut interest rates again by the end of next June, rolling out gradual reductions in borrowing costs every quarter after that month.
The Fed releases the minutes from its July policy meeting on Wednesday, which should help investors gauge the appetite for further rate increases ahead of its annual get-together in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the end of the month.
Major retailers set to release earnings
Ahead of this, Tuesday sees the release of the retail sales for July, a gauge into the health of consumer spending as investors await quarterly earnings from a number of the country’s big retailers.
Home Depot (NYSE:HD) is due to release results on Tuesday, Target (NYSE:TGT) on Wednesday and Walmart (NYSE:WMT) on Thursday.
The second-quarter earnings season is winding down with S&P 500 results presenting a mixed picture - companies are beating analysts' profit expectations at the highest rate in nearly two years even as revenue beats dropped to the lowest since early 2020.
Tesla cuts prices in China
Elsewhere, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has cut prices in China for two of its Model Y model, as the electric carmaker attempts to combat increased competition and entice customers wary of making big purchases in an uncertain economy. Tesla shares fell 3%.
Sales of Tesla cars made in China dropped by 31% month-on-month in July, the first decline since December.
Crude retreats as dollar rises
Oil prices retreated Monday, as concerns about China’s faltering economic recovery as well as a stronger dollar prompted profit-taking after seven weeks of gains on tightening supply from OPEC+ output cuts.
Friday’s U.S. producer price index release saw the dollar climb to a five-week high, which hurts demand for crude as it makes the commodity more expensive for international buyers.
WTI was down 0.7% to $82.62 a barrel, while Brent crude was down 0.7% to $86.20 a barrel. Gold was down 0.5% to $1,937.
(Peter Nurse and Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)