New York: Wall Street stocks were mixed early Wednesday as markets awaited a key inflation reading in the final full-day session of a holiday-shortened week.
Investors are looking ahead to the personal consumption price report, a key item for the Federal Reserve as it determines whether inflation has been sufficiently mitigated to allow more interest rate cuts.
Spartan Capital's Peter Cardillo said he expects light trading volume, with many people already away for the Thanksgiving holiday.
"I don't think the market is going to react very much to the PCE numbers," Cardillo said. "But of course if it's out of whack, then it could have an impact."
About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 percent at 44,954.37.
The broad-based S&P 500 lost less than 0.1 percent at 6,018.98, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.3 percent to 19,117.55.
Markets will be closed on Thursday and open for only a half-day on Friday.
