The S&P 500 is nearly flat as investors look ahead to the next inflation report, earnings season

Stocks were little changed on Tuesday as investors awaited economic data and corporate results due later in the week for signs of how the Federal Reserve will move interest rates going forward.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 36 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 rose just 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2%.

The S&P 500 was up approx. 1.1% in the first five days of trading for 2023 through Monday, which some say bodes well for the rest of the year. The Nasdaq has risen in recent days as optimism over cooling inflation pushed investors to pound technology stocks.

Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones was bullish on the stock market Tuesday morning, saying the Federal Reserve was unlikely to break the economy, and halt rate hikes before it does. Jones, who said he did not make a specific forecast, said there was strong demand coming this year for stocks from share buybacks and mergers.

“You probably have something just under a trillion dollars in excess demand in U.S. stocks,” Jones said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “Where are the sales going to come to offset claims coming from buybacks, from corporate items, from a combination of buybacks and M&A? That’s a significant amount. All in all, the stock market will be up. 7% or 8% this year.”

Investors entered the new year worried that higher Fed interest rates could tip the economy into a recession. but many seem to be betting that inflation will begin to ease in the early days of 2023. Later in the week, they will watch for CPI data next Thursday and big bank earnings on Friday.

“We’re probably going to be in this very tight range and most likely directionless until we get through at least Thursday with the CPI report and then the kickoff to earnings season, which is also later this week,” said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer. officer at Verdence Capital Advisers. “Right now, I think the market is just caught in the middle of waiting for economic data and absorbing some of the Fed speech.”