Losing streak for S&P, Dow continues

More reports come this week on Fed policy, economic data

Wall Street added to its recent string of losses Monday, as stocks fell ahead of a busy week of inflation updates and the start of corporate earnings reporting season.

The S&P 500 fell 0.7 percent, extending its losing streak to a fourth day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.3 percent after wavering between small gains and losses, and the Nasdaq composite fell 1 percent. The Dow and Nasdaq also have closed lower the past four trading days.

Small company stocks also fell, dragging the Russell 2000 index 0.6 percent lower. U.S. bond trading was closed.

Wall Street has been turbulent amid worries about stubbornly hot inflation and the Federal Reserve’s plan to tame high prices by raising interest rates. The goal is to slow economic growth and cool both borrowing and spending to get inflation under control, but the plan risks sending the economy into a recession.

Investors will get a more detailed picture of the Fed’s thinking on Wednesday when the central bank releases minutes from its latest policy meeting. That is when the Fed made another extra-big interest rate increase of three-quarters of a percentage point.

“Nobody’s arguing about whether inflation is falling, it’s simply the slope of the slide,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at Jpmorgan Funds. “The inflation battle is being won, and the problem is the recession battle may be getting lost unnecessarily.”

Wall Street will also get important updates on inflation and more insight into how that is impacting retail sales.

The government on Wednesday will release its report on producer prices, which will provide details for inflation on the wholesale level for businesses.

The closely watched report on consumer prices will be released on Thursday, and a report on retail sales will be released on Friday.

The S&P 500 fell 27.27 points to 3,612.39. The Dow dropped 93.91 points to close at 29,202.88. The Nasdaq lost 110.30 points to 10,542.10. The Russell 2000 fell 10.23 points to 1,691.92.

Stocks fell in Hong Kong and Shanghai on news of more lockdowns in China because rising COVID-19 cases.

Casino and resort operators with operations in China slumped over worries about the impact from more lockdowns. Wynn Resorts fell 12.2 percent for the biggest decline among S&P 500 companies, and Las Vegas Sands slid 7.6 percent.