US open: Stocks open lower ahead of Q1 earnings

Wall Street stocks were in the red early on Monday as investors awaited the beginning of the first-quarter earnings season and the release of some key inflation data later in the week.

As of 1545 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.28% at 33,704.97, while the S&P 500 was 0.24% weaker at 4,118.92 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.64% softer at 13,811.73.

The Dow opened 95.63 points lower on Monday, cutting into gains recorded in the previous session when the index closed at yet another fresh record.

Market participants will be focussed on corporate earnings throughout the week, with expectations set for mostly positive news thanks to a recovering US economy amid the White House's ongoing Covid-19 vaccine rollout. Some of the country's largest banks, such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, will report results this week.

Comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell that central bank wanted to see inflation rise above its 2% for an extended period before officials move to raise interest rates and reports that President Joe Biden, along with other Democrats, will meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to try to convince Capitol Hill to back his $2.0trn infrastructure package were both also in focus early on Monday.

CMC Markets' Michael Hewson said: "After closing at new record highs on Friday US markets have opened lower today, as investors look ahead to tomorrow’s US CPI and Thursday’s retail sales numbers, and the start of US bank earnings season at the end of the week. Weekend comments from Fed chair Jay Powell that the US economy is at an “inflection point” appear to have introduced an element of caution into the investor mindset in what has thus far been a slow start to the week."

On the macro front, March's consumer inflation expectations numbers will be out at 1600 BST, while last month's budget statement will follow at 1900 BST.

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston president Eric Rosengren will also deliver comments at 1800 BST.

In the corporate space, reopening plays like Carnival and United Airlines were lower at the bell, while Tesla shares picked up about 1.5% after analysts at Canaccord Genuity upgraded the stock to 'buy'.

Nuance Communications shares surged as much as 18% after Microsoft revealed it would be snapping up the speech recognition firm as part of a $16.0bn deal - the tech giant's biggest acquisition since it absorbed LinkedIn for $26.0bn back in 2016.