Stocks on Wall Street fell earlier today as the market awaited key economic data and weighed recession fears against the view that stocks were oversold.
The day's calendar includes a reading of business sentiment in the services sector and the release of minutes from theFed'slast policy meeting.
Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investment said the "big slump" in commodity prices had changed the inflation outlook after decades of soaring consumer prices last year.
"That means nowthe Feddoesn't have to tighten as aggressively as it did a few months ago," Sarhan said.This dynamic "could set the stage for a near-term rally on Wall Street that will bounce back because the market is so oversold."
Another view, however, fears that the upcoming corporate earnings period will show a substantially weaker profit outlook amid recession risks, potentially driving the market lower.
About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down less than 0.1% at 30,956.31.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.2% to 3,822.64, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.4% to 11,273.90.
