NEW YORK, Nov 7 — Wall Street stocks were mixed early today as markets looked ahead to key inflation data and the midterm US elections.

Investors are focused on Thursday’s consumer price index data, which will be a key test of whether the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have made a dent in inflation and whether the US central bank will feel the need to enact another supersized increase next month.

Also on the radar, tomorrow’s US elections are expected to shift at least one house of Congress into Republican control, an outcome that investors generally like because gridlock in Washington removes policy uncertainty as a risk.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3 per cent at 32,503.50.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.1 per cent to 3,773.70, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.3 per cent to 10,444.29.

Among individual companies, Apple fell 1.5 per cent after warning that China’s Covid-19 restrictions would pinch iPhone production.

Despite strong demand for Apple’s products ahead of the holiday season, "we now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated,” the company said yesterday. — AFP