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New York: Global stock markets were mostly lower Monday, as traders prepared for fresh consumer inflation data that could provide new clarity on the US Federal Reserve's battle against rising prices.
Equities on both sides of the Atlantic have risen sharply since the start of the year amid a boom in enthusiasm for stocks linked to artificial intelligence, but the rally stalled last week as investors consolidated their recent gains.
The Fed has held its key lending rate at a 23-year high for months now as it looks to return inflation firmly to its long-run goal of two percent.
Tuesday's data will be closely watched for signs of whether January's monthly uptick in inflation was a one-off or if it proves to be more sustained.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the only major Wall Street index to gain, rising 0.1 percent. Both the broad-based S&P 500 and the tech-rich Nasdaq fell.
"The market's a little anxious ahead of the February report, because it wants to be able to see that basically, the January surprise was not repeatable,"
Patrick O'Hare from Briefing.com told AFP.
Traders are now factoring in three US rate cuts this year, compared with six that were penciled in just three months ago.
"Much depends on any change in sentiment we may see after we get the latest US inflation updates tomorrow and Thursday," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at FCA.
