Gold prices briefly hit record high over $3,500/oz on fiscal, tariff concerns
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* Futures: Dow down 0.2%, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.5%
By Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar
March 16 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the S&P 500 was nearly
unchanged on Tuesday as investors remained on the sidelines
ahead of retail sales and industrial production data, while the
Federal Reserve was set to kick off its two-day policy meeting.
Nasdaq futures NQcv1 rose about 0.5% by 6:41 a.m. ET,
pointing to an extension of a rebound in technology stocks that
were at the heart of February's selloff. The Nasdaq 100 is still
about 5% below its Feb. 12 record closing high.
The Dow notched its sixth consecutive all-time high on
Monday on optimism over a $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package
and as several airlines indicated leisure travel was picking up,
bolstering views that the economy was on a path to recovery.
Scores of stimulus, improving economic data and mass
vaccinations have stoked inflation worries, pushing up yields
and upending equity markets in February. Yields on the benchmark
U.S. 10-year Treasury US10YT=RR slipped for the second session
on Tuesday to 1.59% from a 13-month high.
Fears about an overheating economy and a jump-forward in
interest rate expectations have increased scrutiny on the Fed
meeting, where policymakers are likely to raise economic
forecasts and repeat their pledge to remain accommodative for
the foreseeable future. Investors have slightly increased their cash allocation,
deeming that inflation and 'taper tantrums' could topple the
record rally in financial markets, BofA's March fund manager
survey showed on Tuesday. Retail sales and industrial production numbers will offer a
fresh glimpse of the U.S. economic health in February. Both sets
of data are due before the opening bell.
Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 65 points, or 0.2% and S&P
500 E-minis EScv1 were down 0.5 points, or 0.01%.
Mega-cap stocks including Facebook Inc FB.O , Apple Inc
AAPL.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Netflix Inc NFLX.O ,
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O and Microsoft MSFT.O rose between 0.2%
and 1% in early trade.