US stock market opens mixed as investors await inflation data

ANKARA

Major indexes in the US stock market opened mixed on Monday as investors have focused on key inflation data that will be announced later this week.

The Dow Jones rose 34 points, or 0.1%, to 34,790 at 9.46 a.m. EDT (1346GMT). The S&P 500 was flat at 4,229. The Nasdaq was almost unchanged by losing just 4 points to 13,810.

The VIX volatility index was on the rise once again by adding 2.8% to 16.87. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury remained flat at 1.572%.

The US dollar index, which shows the strength of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.1% to 90.07.

Precious metals were slightly down as gold retreated 0.2% to $1,888 per ounce, and silver lost less than 0.1% to $27.76 an ounce.

Although the Group of Seven, known as G7, advanced economies said Saturday they agreed to seek a global corporate tax rate of at least 15%, which remains to be negotiated over the next months, investors are focused on key Consumer Price Index (CPI) that will be released on Thursday.

CPI, one of the significant inflation indicators that the Federal Reserve closely follows, soared 4.2% in April, from the same month a year ago, and marked its sharpest rise since September 2008.

The market consensus for CPI in May is now a 4.7% increase year-over-year.

The data will be key for the Fed as well to decide in its June 15-16 meeting when to raise interest rates.