MSCI's global stock index was edging higher and the dollar fell along with Treasury yields as investors digested US President Donald Trump's latest visa restrictions and waited for economic data and commentary from Federal Reserve officials.
Trump said on Friday that US companies would need to pay $100,000 for new H-1B worker visas, a potential blow for the dominant US tech sector.
India's benchmark indexes lost ground after the H-1B announcements as India's $283 billion information technology sector, which gets more than half its revenue from the US, is expected to feel the pain in the near term.
The move follows Trump's doubling of tariffs on imports from India last month to as much as 50%, partly due to New Delhi's purchases of Russian oil.
Wall Street indexes stayed close to flat after marking record closing highs last week.
"It's not at all unusual to have markets be a little weak this morning coming off of all-time highs across the board last week," said Carol Schleif, chief market strategist at BMO Private Wealth Management, adding that the trading week could be volatile with Fed officials, including Chair Jerome Powell, due to speak and key inflation data due out on Friday.
So far, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said that after last week's rate cut there may be "limited room" for further reductions given inflation above the Fed's 2% target. And Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he does not currently see the need for further interest rate cuts this year due to inflation concerns, according to an interview published by the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
"We've also got people worried about getting some more clarity over President Trump's visa or H-1B visa announcement," Schleif said.
But with the S&P 500 technology sector managing a slight gain, she added: "I would imagine that investors are figuring most of the tech CEOs probably have President Trump on speed dial so that they'll be able to call pretty quickly and get a workaround."
On Wall Street all three major indexes had opened lower. At 10.48 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 6.27 points, or 0.01%, to 46,309.00, the S&P 500 rose 9.65 points, or 0.14%, to 6,674.01 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 67.28 points, or 0.30%, to 22,698.20.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.04 points, or 0.11%, to 982.79. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.2%.
In currencies, the U.S. dollar index was looking to snap a three-day winning streak as investors awaited Fed comments with a view to gauging the monetary policy outlook after the central bank cut rates by 25 basis points last week.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.23% to 97.50. The euro was up 0.21% at $1.1769. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.03% to 147.9.
Meanwhile, Argentina's international dollar bonds rallied after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said "all options for stabilization are on the table" to support Argentina, with more details available after Argentine President Javier Milei and U.S. President Donald Trump meet on Tuesday in New York.
In U.S. Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 0.4 basis points to 4.135%, from 4.139% late on Friday while the 30-year bond yield rose 0.5 basis points to 4.7615%.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 0.2 basis points to 3.584%, from 3.582% late on Friday.
In energy markets, oil prices fell as concerns over Russia and the Middle East were countered by oversupply jitters.
U.S. crude fell 0.4% to $62.43 a barrel and Brent fell to $66.38 per barrel, down 0.45% on the day.
In precious metals, gold prices hit fresh record highs, buoyed by investors' heightened expectations of a dovish rate-cut path, ahead of remarks by Fed officials and key inflation data later in the week.
Spot gold rose 0.99% to $3,720.18 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 1.34% to $3,720.80 an ounce.
