By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta
(Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were mixed in choppy trading on Friday as investors avoided large bets after data showed consumer spending fell in January, exacerbating worries that the world's largest economy might be stalling.
A Commerce Department report showed that inflation rose in line with expectations in the previous month. However, consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, dropped 0.2% after an upwardly revised 0.8% increase in December.
"Spending came in lower than we were looking for... most of it I would attribute to a cooling economy, which presents a dilemma for the Fed in the sense that you still have inflation and you have an economy that is moving lower. If you add them together, that equals stagflation," Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.
Friday's report is important for investors trying to gauge the central bank's next policy move, after policymakers reiterated a hawkish stance on interest rates. The fear has been that the new Donald Trump administration's policies, especially trade restrictions, could lead to a rise in domestic inflation.
Traders see the Fed lowering borrowing costs twice by December, little changed from before the report, according to data compiled by LSEG. Investors will assess comments from Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee later in the day.
At 10:06 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 204.26 points, or 0.47%, to 43,443.76, the S&P 500 gained 6.10 points, or 0.10%, to 5,867.67 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 47.51 points, or 0.26%, to 18,490.55.
Sectors that fare better in times of economic uncertainties such as consumer staples and utilities rose about 1% each. On the flip side, technology stocks limited gains.
The CBOE Volatility Index, also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, touched a one-month high and was last up at 21.26 points.
Multiple recent reports suggesting a stalling economy and concerns that tech companies such as Nvidia and Microsoft might be overspending on artificial-intelligence infrastructure have put Wall Street's main indexes on track for monthly declines.
The benchmark S&P 500 logged declines in five of the past six sessions and is set for its biggest one-month drop since April 2024. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down about 9% from its all-time high and is headed for its steepest one-month fall since September 2023.
Nvidia fell 1.9% after an 8.5% slide in the previous session, after the chip giant's weaker-than-expected quarterly gross margin forecast overshadowed an upbeat revenue outlook.