(Adds preliminary closing prices at 04:00 p.m. ET/ 2000 GMT)

By Sinéad Carew and Sruthi Shankar

May 13 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 closed barely changed on Monday as investors

took a breather after three weekly gains and awaited key

inflation readings and earnings reports due this week while a

survey showed consumers concerned about inflation.

A Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey, released on

Monday, found that Americans see inflation at 3.3% a year from

now from March's 3% while they expect inflation three years from

now at 2.8%. On Friday, a University of Michigan report showed

U.S. consumer sentiment sagged to a six-month low in May as

households worried about the cost of living.

Last week the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500 both

finished three weeks of gains, boosted by strong earnings

reports, and signs of a cooling labor market that fueled bets of

one or two Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.

Investors were cautiously awaiting April's Consumer Price

Index (CPI) data due out on Wednesday. They will also be

monitoring producer price index data, retail sales data, weekly

jobless claims and earnings reports from big retailers Home

Depot ( HD ) and Walmart ( WMT ), all due this week.

"Investors are like somebody looking out the window

trying to see what the weather's like before deciding what to

wear. Today and tomorrow are going to be all about Wednesday's

consumer inflation report," said Burns McKinney, portfolio

manager at NFJ Investment Group in Dallas.

"In the last 3 months that's been the single biggest

mover. Each of these times inflation's come in a little bit

stickier than investors had expected. Each time that's happened

investors have ratcheted back expectations for interest rate

cuts."

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

lost 0.94 points, or 0.02%, to end at 5,221.74 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 49.55 points, or

0.30%, to 16,390.42. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 79.17 points, or 0.20%, to 39,433.67.

Anthony Saglimbene, Ameriprise chief market strategist,

said the "marked deterioration in consumer sentiment and rising

expectations around inflation" from the consumer sentiment

surveys puts even more weight on the upcoming inflation data.

"Stocks are just kind of stuck in this really tight

trading range until we get some more information on inflation

trends," said Saglimbene.

Core consumer prices are expected to have risen 0.3% on

a month-over-month basis in April and 3.6% on an annual basis

according to economist forecasts in a Reuters poll ahead of

Wednesday's release.

Fed Vice Chair Phillip Jefferson said he supports

keeping interest rates steady until it is clear that price

pressures are moderating.

Alphabet fell slightly as Microsoft-backed OpenAI

looked set to announce its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered

search product. Meta Platform was down also declined.

Apple ( AAPL ) shares rose after a report said it had closed

in on an agreement with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to use the

startup's technology on the iPhone.

Meanwhile, shares of videogame retailer GameStop ( GME )

jumped soared after "Roaring Kitty", a former marketer at an

insurance firm credited with sparking the 2021 meme stock rally,

returned to X.com after a three-year hiatus.

Other highly shorted names involved in the 2021 meme rally

including AMC Entertainment ( AMC ) and Koss Corp ( KOSS ) also

rose on Monday.