By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were inching lower as investors await economic reports that could help steer the Federal Reserve's thinking on interest rates.
At 9:46 ET (13:46 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 23 points or 0.1%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.1% and the NASDAQ Composite was down 0.2%.
Crude oil prices continued to climb after the surprise output cuts announced by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies on Sunday. Inflationary pressure is weighing on tech and growth stocks.
The move by the oil cartel is pushing bets on another quarter of a percentage point rate hike by the Fed when it meets in May. Futures traders are giving that a more than 60% chance, while they see a less than 40% chance of the Fed pausing its rate hikes.
Surging shares of energy companies helped lift blue-chip stocks on Monday. Energy companies were mixed after Monday's gains.
This morning, investors will see data on job openings as of the end of February, with expectations for the number to come down though still be above 10 million.
Factory orders fell 0.7% in February vs. the expected decline of 0.5%.
Shares of the commercial satellite launch firm Virgin Orbit Holdings (NASDAQ:VORB) fell 16% after it filed for bankruptcy protection after falling short of securing funding.
Oil rose. Crude Oil WTI Futures was up 1% to $81.23 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures climbed 0.8% to $85.56 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 1.3% to $2027.