Stock market today: Dow falls 140 points as investors await debt ceiling deal

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks treaded water on Monday as investors awaited clarity on the outcome of debt ceiling negotiations.

At 16:00 ET (20:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 140 points or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was flat and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.5%

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, were meeting today as aides spent the weekend trying to sew up an agreement. The deadline for Congress to raise the ceiling or suspend it is quickly approaching, with some estimates saying the government will run out of options to continue paying its obligations as early as June 1.

Economists and administration officials have said a default could create chaos in financial markets.

The uncertainty is hanging over markets as the Federal Reserve prepares to meet again next month to decide the next move on interest rates. Three-quarters of futures traders expect the Fed to hold rates steady in June, a pause so policy makers can assess the progress of their actions so far.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he foresees two more rate increases this year, while his counterpart at the Minneapolis Fed, Neel Kashkari, expressed support for a pause in June.

The Fed will see a key data point on Friday in the personal consumption and expenditure index for April, an inflation gauge it closely monitors.

Biden returned to the U.S. on Sunday, cutting short an Asia trip after the Group of Seven meeting of world leaders to finish the negotiations on the debt ceiling deal.

On Sunday, China banned some sales of Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) chips to key industries in its country, citing national security. Shares of Micron fell 2.8%.

Shares of Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) rose 1% after European Union privacy regulators fined it $1.3 billion for sending user information to the U.S.

In deals on Monday, Chevron (NYSE:CVX) announced plans to buy Colorado and Texas producer PDC Energy (NASDAQ:PDCE) for $6.3 billion, and Ironwood Pharmaceutical announced plans to buy Swiss biotech VectivBio for about $1 billion. Shares of PDC Energy rose 7% and shares of VectivBio (NASDAQ:VECT) rose 36%.