Stocks were little changed Tuesday as investors look toward the release of economic data later this week for insight into the pace of future interest rate hikes.
CarMax shares jumped 6% in premarket trading after the used car retailer beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, though it missed revenue estimates, according to Refinitiv. Meanwhile, Moderna shares shed more than 3% after the biotech firm said it’s delaying its flu vaccine.
Investors are anticipating the March readings of the consumer price index, due Wednesday, and the producer price index, out Thursday. Both inflation metrics could give further clarity into how the Federal Reserve might proceed on its rate-hiking campaign.
“The market is saying that peak tightening is behind us, and now the data has to confirm that that’s the direction that we’re heading in. And that can’t be determined until we get those data points start coming in in real time. But I think that’s what the market is waiting on,” said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments.
Further, Wall Street is heading toward another season of earnings announcements, with several major U.S. banks scheduled to release their earnings reports for the first time since the series of bank crises in March. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are set to report Friday.
“I think this earnings season will be interesting, especially with big financial institutions and how they are looking at current threats, given [not only] the failures that we had last month, but also lending standards that were already tightening beforehand,” Buchanan added.