U.S. stocks close higher ahead of inflation data

NEW YORK, July 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday as investors waited for a slate of inflation data later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 209.52 points, or 0.62 percent, to 33,944.40. The S&P 500 added 10.58 points, or 0.24 percent, to 4,409.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 24.76 points, or 0.18 percent, to 13,685.48.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with industrials and health leading the gainers by rising 1.39 percent and 0.81 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services and utilities led the laggards by losing 0.92 percent and 0.42 percent, respectively.

U.S. stocks struggled for direction for much of Monday before heading higher in the final trading hours, following last week's positive economic data which pushed Treasury yields toward cycle highs. Investors were searching for clues about the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path, with key inflation data in focus this week.

The June consumer price index (CPI) report will be released on Wednesday, followed by the producer price index (PPI) due on Thursday.

"Investors will look to this week's data highlight - the release of U.S. June CPI on Wednesday - for clues on how the Federal Reserve is navigating this balancing act. The consensus forecasts a 0.3 percent month-over-month gain in both headline and core measures, which would lead to a 3.1 percent year-over-year headline inflation rate and a 5.0 percent core rate. The latter would still be uncomfortably high for Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in our view," according to an analysis published by UBS Global Wealth Management on Monday.

While waiting for the crucial inflation data to come out, investors were also digesting a flurry of Fed officials' comments on Monday, which provided further insight on the path of the Fed's policy.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said on Monday that the U.S. central bank will likely need to raise interest rates a "couple" more times this year. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said the Fed needs to raise interest rates "further" to bring inflation down.

Meanwhile, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said the Fed still has more work to do to raise interest rates to a level that will contain inflation.

Investors also have a batch of quarterly reports to consider this week, with analysts seeing a key divergence in earnings forecasts.