S&P 500 ends flat ahead of March inflation report, Fed minutes

U.S. stock indexes finished mostly lower after trading in a narrow range on Tuesday as investors awaited key inflation data that could determine whether the Federal Reserve will once again raise interest rates at its meeting in May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.29%
advanced 98 points, or 0.3%, to end at 33,685, while the S&P 500
SPX,
-0.00%
ended nearly flat and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.43%
shed 0.4%. The March CPI reading from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is expected to show a 5.1% rise from a year earlier, slowing from a 6% year-over-year rise in the previous month, according to a survey of economists by Dow Jones. Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and fuel costs, is expected to rise 0.4% from a month ago, or 5.6% year over year. The latest Federal Open Market Committee Monetary Policy Meeting minutes are also due out on Wednesday.