Wall Street today: US stocks mixed ahead of economic data, Fed Chair’s comments

US equity indices were mixed on Monday as investors awaited economic data and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Powell is slated to speak later in the day on the economic outlook at the National Association for Business Economics event.

In the week ahead, several economic data including jobs report for September, S&P manufacturing and services PMIs are due for release.

At 9:47 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 226.69 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 42,086.31, the S&P 500 lost 4.52 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 5,733.65 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 44.41 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 18,164.00.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 77.94 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 42,235.06. The S&P 500 fell 11.43 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 5,726.74, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 44.76 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 18,074.83.

Shares of automakers Ford Motor and General Motors dropped 2.2 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, after European peer Stellantis NV cut its annual forecasts.

Stocks of US-listed Alibaba gained 3.5 per cent, Li Auto soared 6 per cent and PDD added 3.3 per cent after China's central bank said on Sunday that it would tell lenders to lower mortgage rates for existing home loans.

Cruise-ship operator Carnival declined 4.1 per cent even though it reported stronger profit and revenue for the second quarter.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was steady at 3.75 per cent. The 2-year Treasury yield rose to 3.59 per cent from 3.56 per cent.

Crude oil

Oil prices declined on Monday on a strong supply outlook.

Brent crude futures for November delivery, expiring on Monday, lost 35 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $71.63 a barrel as of 1344 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell 12 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $68.06.

Bullion

Gold prices eased on Monday, with spot gold falling 0.9 per cent at $2,634.01 per ounce as of 1439 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.5 per cent to $2,655.40.

Silver dipped 1.6 per cent at $31.13 per ounce.