Wall Street Today | Pullback After PCE Pushes ATH's, Busy Week Ahead

U.S. stocks were slightly lower Monday,after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit back to back all time closing highs, and the S&P 500 logged its 16th winning week out of the last 18 as investors awaited a busy week that features congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and all-important jobs data.

There's a busy slate of events on tap for this week as investors look to see whether anything can derail the rally. Powell will be on Capitol Hill this week for two days of congressional testimony, while the nonfarm payrolls report gets released on Friday.

"If the S&P 500 is going to make this the eighth-straight week it hits an all-time high, it will likely need to hear encouraging words from Fed Chair Jerome Powell about rate cuts in his two days of congressional testimony and avoid any major surprises from this week's jobs data," said Chris Larkin, managing director for trading and investing at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley, in an email.

In an essay released Monday, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Predisnet Rap[hael Bostic said the economy is giving the FOMC a chance to take a step back and consider it's moves. With a combination of high growth and higer than perfect inflation, its up to monetary policy experts to find a direction.

Bostic noted the risks of acting too quickly or not quickly enough to lower policy rate, but said that he would not be comfortable with acting until he is certain that inflation is consistently moving lower.

"January inflation readings came in surprisingly high, the latest reminder that the path to price stability is not a straight line," Bostic wrote. "I need to see more progress to feel fully confident that inflation is on a sure path to averaging 2% over time. Only when I gain that confidence will I feel the time is right to begin lowering the federal funds rate to dial back restrictive monetary policy."

Last week, Bostic suggested that rate decreases could begin as early as the summer if the data allowed it, but said in his essay there is no rush for the committee to act until that certainty exists.

"So, we seek a delicate balance: keep the economy thriving without allowing high inflation to persist," Bostic said. "Finding that balance won't be easy. The good news is the labor market and economy are prospering, furnishing the Committee the luxury of making policy without the pressure of urgency. Of course, that can change."

Crypto companies and the underlying currency has been gaining on the back of Bitcoin’s recent rise ahead of an upcoming “halving” event on April 19, when the reward for mining new bitcoins will drop by 50%. Halving happens every four years and has historically driven BTC prices higher.

The price of Bitcoin has surged 5% over the past 24 hours to above $65,100, with the largest crypto closing in on its all-time peak above $69,000 reached in November 2021. Bitcoin has climbed steadily since last summer, but gains have been supercharged in recent weeks amid jubilant sentiment across wider markets -- with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock indexes at record levels -- and the impact of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

"Bitcoin ... looks set to threaten new all-time highs above $69,000 shortly," said Aditya Das, an analyst at blockchain research group Brave New Coin. "On several occasions last week the price jumped by multiple percentage points in minutes ... creating buzz across the crypto trading ecosystem."

Toronto-listed stocks were slightly lower on Monday as investors await Wednesday's interest rate decision by the Bank of Canada. According to FactSet, analysts expect the central bank to hold rates steady at 5% for the fifth consecutive announcement.

Most sectors in the session were lower, with outsized losses in process industries and health tech stocks, followed by communications. On the few gainers' side, tech and materials were in the lead.