Stocks Are Little Changed to Start the Week as Traders Await Powell Speech, Retail Earnings

Stocks were little changed Monday as markets cooled off following a winning week as traders awaited key retail earnings and a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Tesla shares dipped about 0.7% after The Times, a London-based newspaper, reported that the electric car maker is now offering discounts of up to 40% on leased vehicles in the country as sales slump. Shares of Novo Nordisk added more than 4% after the company’s Wegovy obesity drug was granted accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of a serious liver disease.

The Fed will continue to be in focus this week as central bank members travel to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for the annual economic policy symposium. Investors will be monitoring the event for clues about the future path of rates. Fed funds futures are pricing in a nearly 85% likelihood that the central bank cuts rates at its next policy meeting in September, according to CME’s FedWatch tool.

Beyond economic policy, traders will be monitoring earnings reports due over the course of the week as the season winds down. Big-box retailers, including Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart and Target, are among the major companies slated to release results this week.

Of the more than 92% of S&P 500 companies that have already reported this quarter, almost 82% have surpassed Wall Street’s expectations, according to FactSet.