NEW YORK — Wall Street stocks opened mixed Monday, ahead of a key US inflation report and as the clock ticked down to a deadline for higher tit-for-tat tariffs to return between Washington and Beijing.

 

Minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 per cent to 44,252.25, while the S&P 500 Index was flat at 6,388.35.

 

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 0.2 per cent to 21,403.12.

 

The movements came after weak US employment figures for the recent three months were seen as giving the Federal Reserve a "green light" to cut interest rates and boost the world's biggest economy, said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management.

 

The Fed has, this year, kept rates unchanged as officials monitored for the effects of President Donald Trump's wide-ranging tariffs on the economy.

 

The US central bank has a mandate to achieve stable prices, meaning policymakers pay close attention to inflation data as well, in addition to its mandate towards maximum employment.

 

But Hogan believes the consumer price index report due Tuesday "would have to have an outsized move" upwards to deter the Fed from cutting rates in September, given the cracks now seen in the labour market.

 

A temporary agreement between Washington and Beijing to lower tariffs was also due to expire on Tuesday.

 

Investors will also be looking ahead to talks between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday.

 

The two leaders will meet in the US state of Alaska to try to resolve a three-year war following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, but Kyiv is concerned that both could strike a deal requiring Ukraine to cede territory to Russia.

 

The invasion of Ukraine has "been an ongoing global headwind that has really restructured trade routes," Hogan told AFP.