U.S. stocks were wobbling as investors await outcome of debt ceiling talks

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were wobbling as investors await more clarity on the outcome of debt ceiling negotiations in Washington.

At 10:57 ET (14:57 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, while the S&P 500 was also flat and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.1%. All three indexes had been in the red earlier.

As a deadline looms over the debt ceiling talks, Democrats and Republicans are still hashing out an agreement to raise it. Congress has to act in the next few weeks to avoid the possibility of a default, a date that could come as soon as June 1, according to Biden administration officials.

Republicans have been seeking spending cuts as a condition of raising the limit, while Democrats want to negotiate budget issues separately. The U.S. hit the debt limit of $31.4 trillion in January, forcing the Treasury Department to maneuver around it to keep paying obligations.

Many have warned of potentially dire consequences if the U.S. defaults on its obligations, including the potential for a stock sell-off.

A number of Federal Reserve officials are slated to speak in public this week, including a speech by Chair Jerome Powell on Friday. Futures traders are almost unanimous in their expectations the Fed will pause its interest rate hikes at its meeting next month.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said on Monday he does not expect any interest-rate cuts this year. The Fed continues to battle inflation that is running at more than twice its target 2% rate and continues to work to lower it.

The Fed’s Empire State index on current business conditions was a negative 31.8 in May, a bigger drop than expected. 

In other economic reports this week, retail sales will be released on Tuesday and weekly jobless claims come out on Thursday. There will also be data on housing. 

Shares of ONEOK, Inc. (NYSE:OKE) fell 5.8% after it said it would buy pipeline operator Magellan Midstream Partners LP (NYSE:MMP) for about $18.8 billion including debt. Shares of Magellan rose 16%.

Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM) shares rose 0.9% after the mining company struck a deal to buy Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd. (ASX:NCM) for $17.5B. Newcrest shares rose 1.5%.

Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) were flat after the European Union approved its $69B acquisition of gaming company Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), where shares rose nearly 1%. The decision comes after the U.K. competition regulator blocked the deal.