Wall St cautious ahead of key inflation data, Fed meeting

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq turned higher, while the Dow was flat on Monday as investors remained wary ahead of a key inflation reading as well as a Federal Reserve meeting this week, which could provide clues on the central bank's policy-easing path.

The S&P 500 pared early declines, while gains in companies including Microsoft, Amazon.com and Broadcom helped the Nasdaq trade slightly higher. Those shares rose between 0.8% and 2.5%.

In focus this week are the Consumer Price Index inflation report for May and the conclusion of the Fed's two-day policy meeting, both on Wednesday. The central bank, which will release updated economic and policy projections, is overwhelmingly expected to hold interest rates steady.

Markets dialed back expectations for rate cuts in September after Friday's bumper jobs data for May, with the odds of a reduction at 50%.

Expectations had risen as high as 69% last week. However, unemployment had ticked higher and household surveys showed signs of economic distress.

"We're probably going to see a little bit of volatility," said Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede.

"The employment report already created a 'choose your own adventure', and we suspect there may still be a little bit of confusion from the CPI report this week," Pride said.

Chipmaker Nvidia rose 1.1% in choppy trading after a 10-for-one stock split that went into effect after markets closed on Friday, giving rise to chatter about the chances of its inclusion in the blue-chip Dow.

Financials was the worst performing sector, led by a 6.1% loss in regional lender Huntington Bancshares after the company forecast a greater decline in annual interest income than expected.

At 11:54 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19.65 points, or 0.05%, at 38,779.34, the S&P 500 was up 7.94 points, or 0.15%, at 5,354.93, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 57.16 points, or 0.33%, at 17,190.29.

Apple slipped 0.8% ahead of the iPhone maker's annual developer conference for updates on how it is integrating artificial intelligence into its offerings.

Southwest Airlines jumped 8.6% after activist investor Elliott Investment Management disclosed it has built up a $1.9 billion position in the company.

CrowdStrike, KKR & Co and GoDaddy rose between 2.2% and 10.5% after S&P Dow Jones Indices said the companies would be included in the S&P 500 as of June 24.

Diamond Offshore Drilling added 10.3% after oilfield services firm Noble said it would buy the smaller rival in a $1.59 billion deal.

Meanwhile, videogame retailer GameStop reversed early gains to slump 12.7%, after losing nearly 40% on Friday after stock influencer Keith Gill's return to YouTube failed to offset its announcement of a share sale.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.25-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 1.20-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 12 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 42 new highs and 142 new lows.