*
March CPI data awaited on Wednesday
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CarMax jumps on quarterly profit beat
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Crypto stocks climb as bitcoin hits 10-month high
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Indexes mixed: Dow up 0.19%, S&P up 0.02%, Nasdaq down
0.26%
(Updates to market open)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas
April 11 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 was little
changed on Tuesday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of
Wednesday's inflation data that could determine the U.S. Federal
Reserve's next policy moves.
Losses in megacap stocks such as Microsoft Corp and
Amazon.com Inc weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, while
gains in industrial stocks such as Caterpillar Inc boosted the Dow.
Hopes that the Fed will soon end its aggressive monetary
policy tightening helped the S&P 500 stabilize so far in April
after the collapse of two U.S. mid-sized lenders sparked a
selloff last month.
A strong labor market report on Friday, however, lifted bets
that the U.S. central bank will increase rates by 25 basis
points in May, with money market traders pricing in a nearly 70%
chance of such a move, according to CME Group's Fedwatch tool.
This marks a shift in traders' bets of a pause in the Fed's
policy tightening after recent weak economic data raised the
possibility of a U.S. recession.
"There are certainly other macro indicators that show the
labor market is slowing, and if we get good news on inflation,
then there's a good possibility that the Fed pauses in May,"
said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital
Securities in New York.
"We are headed for a recession and I think it'll be a light
one."
Data on Wednesday is expected to show consumer prices grew
5.2% in March after a 6.0% rise in February. However, core
prices are seen rising 5.6%, at a slightly faster pace compared
with a 5.5% rise in February.
Investors will also be scrutinizing earnings reports from
the big U.S. banks Citigroup Inc , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Wells Fargo & Co on Friday for clues on the
overall health of the banking sector.
Analysts expect first-quarter profits at S&P 500 companies
to fall 5.2% year-on-year, a stark reversal from the 1.4% annual
growth expected at the beginning of the year, according to
Refinitiv data.
At 9:53 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was
up 64.63 points, or 0.19%, at 33,651.15, the S&P 500 was
up 0.74 point, or 0.02%, at 4,109.85, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 31.87 points, or 0.26%, at 12,052.48.
Remarks later on Tuesday from voting members of the Fed's
rate-setting committee will be parsed for more clues on the
central bank's policy moves.
Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors rose, with gains in
industrial and material shares offsetting
losses in technology stocks.
Shares of crypto-related companies such as Coinbase Global
Inc , Riot Platforms Inc and Marathon Digital
Holdings Inc climbed between 6.6% and 5.7% as bitcoin breached the key $30,000 level for the first time in
10 months.
U.S.-listed shares of Hexo Corp plunged 26.2% after
Tilray Brands Inc said it would buy the Canadian
cannabis company for $56 million. Tilray's shares also fell
7.1%.
CarMax Inc rose 9.1% as the used-car retailer
reported a quarterly profit that beat estimates.
Moderna Inc fell 5.0% as the company said its
closely watched flu vaccine did not meet the criteria for early
success in a late-stage trial.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 3.35-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.31-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 32 new highs and 30 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
