U.S. Stocks May Lack Direction As Inflation Data Looms

(RTTNews) - After turning in a strong performance last week, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Monday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by just 0.1 percent.

A lack of major U.S. economic data may keep traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of several closely watched reports in the coming days.

The Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation in the month of July is likely to be in focus on Tuesday, as the data could impact the outlook for interest rates.

Economists currently expect consumer prices to rise by 0.2 percent in July after climbing by 0.3 percent in June, while the annual rate of growth is expected to inch up to 2.8 percent from 2.7 percent.

Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, are expected to increase by 0.3 percent in July after rising by 0.2 percent in June. The annual rate of growth is expected to tick up to 3.0 percent from 2.9 percent.

Ahead of the release of the data, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating an 86.4 percent chance the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by a quarter point next month.

Reports on producer price inflation, retail sales and industrial production are also likely to attract attention in the coming days.

Following the mixed performance seen during Thursday's session, stocks moved mostly higher over the course of the trading on Friday. With the upward move, the tech-heavy Nasdaq reached a new record closing high.

The major averages all finished the day firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq jumped 207.32 points or 1.0 percent to 21,450.02, the S&P 500 advanced 49.45 points or 0.8 percent to 6,389.45 and the Dow climbed 206.97 points or 0.5 percent to 44,175.61.

For the week, the Nasdaq spiked by 3.9 percent, the S&P 500 surged by 2.4 percent and the Dow shot up by 1.4 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, with Japanese markets closed for a holiday. China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.3 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index crept up by 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index is down by 0.1 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.2 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are climbing $0.34 to $64.22 a barrel after coming in unchanged at $63.88 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after jumping $37.60 to $3,491.30 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are plummeting $88.50 to $3,402.80 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 147.93 yen versus the 147.74 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.1615 compared to last Friday's $1.1641.