Stocks ended Monday's session little changed as market participants looked ahead towards the release of key inflation data later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added more than 50 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite ticked 0.08% and 0.2% lower, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Monday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.08% or -3.69 points to 4,411.55
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.16% or +54.77 points to 34,337.87
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): -0.22% or -30.36 points to 13,767.74
The week ahead holds two key inflation reports for October -- the month's consumer price index reading on Tuesday and the producer price index reading due out on Wednesday. The week also hosts other major economic reports including U.S. retail sales in October scheduled for Wednesday and last month's housing starts and building permits numbers slated for Friday.
Monday's moves were also impacted by Moody's downgrade of the United States' government to negative from stable as the nation faces fiscal deficits and partisan congressional gridlocks. However, the ratings agency reaffriemd the U.S.'s credit rating at AAA, its highest level.
Goldman Sachs strategist Peter Oppenheimer said in a note that inflation appears to have "peaked and our economists continue to expect a soft landing," for the U.S. economy.
"However, the upside [for investors] is also constrained by a low equity risk premium, only moderate profit growth through 2024, and indications that the market is already pricing a soft landing," Oppenheimer added.
Morgan Stanley Chief U.S. Economist Ellen Zentner wrote in a Sunday note that the U.S. economy is expected to see slowing GDP growth in 2024, as the firm predicts the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates at 5.375% until June 2024.
"High rates for longer cause a persistent drag, more than offsetting the fiscal impulse and bringing growth sustainably below potential from 3Q24. We maintain our view that the Fed will achieve a soft landing, but weakening growth will keep recession fears alive. We forecast that GDP slows from an estimated 2.5% 4Q/4Q (2.4%Y) in 2023 to 1.6% (1.9%) in 2024," Zentner wrote.
On the earnings front, Monday.com (NASDAQ: MNDY) reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings results on Monday. The project management software company also issued strong forward guidance, forecasting fourth-quarter revenue between $196 million to $198 million and full-year guidance between $723 million to $725 million -- both ranges above analysts expectations.
In single-stock news, Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) announced Monday it plans to start lithium production in 2027 as it starts a long-term investment in the materials needed for electric car batteries at its drilling operation in Arkansas. The oil giant plans to produce enough lithium to support the manufacturing of more than a million EVs annually by 2030.
Looking ahead, market participants will react to October's CPI reading due out Tuesday morning, as well as third-quarter earnings reports from companies including Home Depot (NYSE: HD).