U.S. Stocks Climb Well Off Worst Levels But Remain Modestly Lower

After coming under pressure early in the session, stocks have regained some ground over the course of the trading day on Monday. The major averages have climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the Dow briefly peeking above the unchanged line.

Currently, the Dow is down just 4.14 points or less than a tenth of a percent after falling nearly 240 points in early trading. The S&P 500 is down 11.65 points or 0.2 percent at 5,112.04 and the Nasdaq is down 61.06 points or 0.4 percent at 16,024.05.

The early weakness on Wall Street came amid uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of key inflation data in the coming days.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release its closely watched report on consumer price inflation in the month of February on Tuesday.

Economists currently expect consumer prices to climb by 0.4 percent in February after rising by 0.3 percent in January.

Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, are expected to rise by 0.3 percent in February following a 0.4 percent increase in January.

Meanwhile, the annual rate of consumer price growth is expected to come in unchanged from the previous month at 3.1 percent, while annual core consumer price growth is expected to slow to 3.7 percent from 3.9 percent.

The consumer price inflation data could have a significant impact on the outlook for interest rates, with Federal Reserve officials saying they need “greater confidence” inflation is slowing before they consider cutting rates.

While the Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged at its monetary policy meeting next week, the data could impact expectations regarding when the central bank will eventually lower rates.

On Thursday, the Labor Department is due to release a separate report on producer price inflation in the month of February.

Producer prices are expected to rise by 0.3 percent in February, matching the increase seen in January, while the annual rate of producer price growth is expected to…