U.S.Stocks open lower after PPI reading as investors await Fed

U.S.Stocks open lower after PPI reading as investors await Fed,Nasdaq Composite down 1.2% at 15,229.96,S&P 500 down 0.7% at 4,635.65,Dow industrials down 98 points, or 0.3%.

Tesla shares were among the biggest early droppers on the S&P 500, falling 2.1% premarket after CEO Elon Musk announced that that he has sold another $906.5 million in shares.

Fellow automaker Ford also fell, down 1.7% following news that by 2030Toyotawould beinvesting $35 billion into battery-powered electronic vehicles, a space where Ford has sought to establish itself as a leader.

Pfizer shares rose nearly 1% after final results of tests on its Covid drug showed it reduced hospitalizations and deaths by 89% in high-risk patients.

Research from Goldman Sachs showed the S&P 500 is powered by five stocks that have accounted for 51% of its return since the end of April. Microsoft, Google, Apple, Nvidia and Tesla account for more than one-third of the S&P 500's 26% return this year, according to Goldman.

Traders are awaiting a decision from the Fed on how quickly the central bank will tighten monetary policy amid a backdrop of fresh inflation numbers that reflected the fastest annual increase in nearly four decades. The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index (CPI) soared 6.8% in November compared to last year, according to figures published last week.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled to hold its two-day policy-setting meeting starting on Tuesday, followed by the release of the monetary policy statement and remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell Wednesday. An updated Summary of Economic Projections outlining individual members' outlooks for economic conditions and interest rates is set to accompany the statement.

The Fed has been under pressure to control rising inflation levels, as investors watch for clues of a faster taper that could set the stage for earlier rate hikes.

“Because inflation expectations do appear to be adaptive, our view is that the longer inflation stays elevated, the greater the risk that consumers adjust their behaviors in a way that contributes to persistently elevated inflation” wrote PIMCO economist Tiffany Wilding in a recent note to clients.

“We believe the Fed will want to manage this risk by shortening the time over which it winds down its purchases of U.S. Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS), aiming to end the program in March 2022, while also signaling a June rate hike is likely,” said Wilding.

PIMCO managing director and portfolio manager Sonali Pier also separately told Yahoo Finance Live that the firm expects to see two hikes in 2022, three hikes in 2023, and potentially four in 2024, with the Fed trying to bring the policy rate to neutral.

“Amid proliferating signs of solid growth and a robust job market, various measures depict a deeply troubled economy,” wrote Oxford Economics senior economist Bob Schwartzin a new report. "Households are downbeat, according to sentiment surveys, and the so-called 'misery index' that adds together inflation and unemployment hovers around recession levels."

Markets await a trove of fresh economic data this week. November retail sales, out on Wednesday, are expected to rise by 0.8%, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates. And November housing starts are forecasted to see a month-over-month increase of 3.3%.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley projects the U.S. unemployment rate will drop to 3% in 2022.

"It's stunning to see how much the rate has fallen in the last five months,” Morgan chief U.S. economist Michael Feroli told Yahoo Finance Live. “We expect that pace of decline to slow, but it doesn't take much to get below 4%, even with a tick up in the labor participation rate which has been depressed over the last year and a half."