US open: Stocks slightly lower on Fedspeak

Stocks on Wall Street are drifting lower after having jumped out of the starting gate with investors focusing on remarks from various US central bank officials and amid profit-taking following a win for French centrist-reformist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron at the weekend.

At 1603 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off by 0.05% to 20,995.50, while the S&P 500 was down 0.12% at 2,396.29 and the Nasdaq Composite was declining 0.15% to 6,091.54.

Speaking on Monday morning, Federal Reserve bank of St.Louis president James Bullard said interest rates in the US where were they needed to be.

But his opposite number at the Cleveland Fed, Loretta Mester, said the Fed needs to remain "very vigilant" against the risk of 'falling behind'.

On Friday, the San Francisco Fed's John Williams said he still believed one or two more interest rate hikes were needed in 2017.

Commenting on the market action, Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK said: "Despite initially opening at another record high today, US markets slipped back as investors took a rather relaxed view to the weekend confirmation of an Emmanuel Macron win to the French Presidency.

"All in all the focus is now shifting back to the timing of the next Federal Reserve policy move after Friday’s payrolls numbers. While St. Louis Fed President James Bullard adopted a rather dovish tone in his remarks Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, a renowned hawk remained confident in the ability of the US economy to absorb a tighter monetary policy."

Over the weekend, pro-European Macron defeated far-right rival Marine Le Pen with 66.1% of the vote to 33.9% but traders reacted in a classic 'buy the rumpour, sell the news fashion".

In corporate news, Sinclair Broadcast Group shot higher after news broke that it had launched a takeover of Tribune Media for nearly $4bn.

Shares of Coach were also trading on the frontfoot after announcing it was to acquire Kate Spade for $2.4bn.

Elsewhere, PPG Industries was lower after Dulux owner AkzoNobel said it rejected a third unsolicited takeover offer from its US rival, saying it undervalued the company.