By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- U.S stocks are wobbling to start a new month after ending February on a down note.
At 9:51 ET (14:51 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 60 points or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 was flat and the NASDAQ Composite was up 0.2%.
Investors are worried that the Federal Reserve will have to raise rates more than expected to tame inflation after hotter-than-expected data. Two-year Treasuries hit a four-month high earlier on Wednesday.
Futures traders are now betting that the Fed will raise rates to 5.25% to 5.50% by the end of the summer, higher than the central bank itself forecast as recently as December. The current range is 4.50% to 4.75%, implying at least two more quarters of percentage point hikes starting in March.
This morning, investors will see the latest data on factory activity for February. The jobs report for February is due out next week.
Shares of COVID-19 vaccine maker Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) tumbled 24.5% after it said it might not be able to stay operational. It is slashing spending as it prepares to roll out a vaccine for the fall.
AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) shares were down 1.6% after the movie theater chain reported a drop in revenue and said industry box office sales might take longer than expected to recover from the pandemic.
Oil was mixed. Crude Oil WTI Futures were down 0.2% to $76.93 a barrel and Brent Oil Futures were flat at $83.45 a barrel. Gold Futures was up 0.7% to $1,848.