01:05 PM EDT, 05/14/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes traded mixed after midday on Tuesday as investors evaluated the producer price inflation data ahead of April consumer prices.

The S&P 500 was little changed at 5,220.5, the Dow Jones Industrial Average eased 0.1% to 39,413.6, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2% to 16,419.6. Real estate was the top gainer intraday, while energy and consumer staples led the decliners.

In economic news Tuesday, the US producer price index rose 0.5% in April following a downwardly revised 0.1% decline in March, beating the 0.3% gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. After excluding food and energy prices, core PPI jumped 0.5%, above the 0.2% increase anticipated and compared with a 0.1% drop reported in the previous month. PPI was up 2.2% year-over-year in April, while core PPI rose by 2.4% year-over-year, both coming in line and above their respective 1.8% and 2.1% March rates.

Restrictive monetary policy may take longer to impact inflation than was expected, requiring the Federal Open Market Committee to keep rates higher for longer, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday.

The US economy is performing "very well" with a strong labor market and rising employment and wages, though with some signs of "gradual" cooling, Powell said Tuesday at the annual general meeting of the Foreign Bankers' Association.

Following three hotter-than-expected reports in January, February, and March, the April consumer price index data is due Wednesday. "Not impossible altogether but with each additional data point failing to show the [Federal Open Market] Committee's desired disinflationary pathway, the more the market will begin to question the Fed's terminal rate decision at 5.5%," Stifel said in a note.

The Fed will likely deliver its first interest-rate cut in December, a point by which "we believe Fed officials will have seen enough data to feel confident in the disinflation trend," Amy Yang, US economist at Deutsche Bank, said in a note.

The US 10-year Treasury yield fell 2.4 basis points to 4.46%, and the two-year rate declined 3 basis points to 4.83%.

In company news, Alibaba Group ( BABA ) reported weaker-than-expected fiscal Q4 earnings despite revenue gains in the company's e-commerce, cloud and logistics segments. The shares slumped 7.4%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.5% to $77.97 a barrel.

Gold climbed 0.7% to $2,358.11 an ounce, and silver jumped 0.9% to $28.69.