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Wall Street Wavers On Mixed Retail Sales, Nvidia Falls Ahead Of GTC AI Conference, Intel Rallies: What's Driving Markets Monday?

Stocks were little moved during midday Monday trading in New York, as a mixed retail sales report failed to generate a bullish response from investors.

Retail sales rose 0.2% month-over-month in February, rebounding from a concerning 1.2% decline in January but falling short of the 0.6% forecast. Yet, when excluding volatile categories, the picture looked slightly brighter.

The control group measure, which strips out sales from auto dealers, building materials, gas stations, office supply stores, mobile home dealers and tobacco retailers, rose 1% in February, fully offsetting January's 1% decline and significantly surpassing the expected 0.2% increase.

Despite this, concerns over a broader economic slowdown remain, with traders now looking ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech on Wednesday for reassurance that the U.S. economy is not headed for a recession.

Major indices remained broadly flat, though small caps outperformed. Energy led sector gains, while consumer discretionary lagged.

In currency markets, the U.S. dollar index softened 0.3%, heading ...