STORY: U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Monday after last week’s AI-driven rally as focus shifted to upcoming economic data that could impact the timing of the Federal Reserve’s expected rate cuts .
The Dow ended slightly lower, the S&P 500 ended down almost 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq ended slightly lower.
Investors are keeping an eye on Thursday’s release of key inflation data, known as the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index.
Carol Schleiff, chief investment officer at BMO Family Office, said January’s data showing price pressures are not cooling quickly enough could further dampen expectations for Fed rate cuts. Ta.
“Recent economic data clearly confirms that the Fed does not want to cut rates before March. CPI and PPI were higher than expected last week, but this week the Fed is expected to announce its desired PCE. ” Inflation is also expected to trend upward, and the Fed is likely to remain on hold until at least late spring or early summer, as inflation is also expected to show some rise. There’s been talk recently that Fed policy may never end. “We think there will be rate hikes. We certainly think the Fed can keep policy on hold for some period of time. The expectation was for three, maybe four rate cuts this year, but that would depend heavily on the data, especially over the next few weeks. ”
In AI-related stock news, shares fell 4.5% after Google’s parent company Alphabet announced plans to reboot its AI tools in the coming weeks. It was suspended last week due to inaccuracies in some historical depictions.
Other gains included Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which fell 2% after the U.S. government threatened legal action against its power company PacifiCorp.
Domino’s shares also rose nearly 6% after quarterly same-store sales beat Wall Street expectations.
