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Tesla gains after Musk says will unveil Robotaxi in August

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Crypto stocks rise, tracking higher bitcoin prices

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Indexes up: Dow 0.19%, S&P 0.02%, Nasdaq 0.09%

(Updated at 9:49 a.m. ET/ 1349 GMT)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi Achar A

April 8 (Reuters) -

The benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq struggled for direction

in early trading on Monday after Treasury yields gained on

rising bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve could delay

interest-rate cuts this year.

Hawkish commentary from central bank officials last week and

stronger-than-expected manufacturing and jobs reports pointed to

a resilient U.S. economy, easing the pressure on the Fed to cut

interest rates quickly.

U.S. stocks recorded weekly losses on Friday as traders

scaled back expectations on the timing of rate cuts. They now

see an around 51% chance of the Fed announcing its first rate

cut in June, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, down from about

58% at the beginning of last week.

The market has also pared back expectations of more than

three rate cuts this year, from between three and four a few

weeks ago, according to LSEG data.

"A lot of people are trying to be overly optimistic with

a Fed rate cut. It kind of doesn't make sense," said Michael

Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc.

"We've seen economic numbers over the past few weeks.

It's not hot but it's still running strong. So why would you

really want to cut rates?"

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes rose to its

highest level since last November earlier in the session,

pressuring equities, and was last at 4.417%.

Market focus now shifts to the March reading of the U.S.

Consumer Price Index (CPI), due later in the week, that is

expected to show a rise in headline inflation to 3.4%

year-on-year, from 3.2% in February.

Also on the radar is the release of minutes from the Fed's

latest meeting, where it stuck to its guidance of three rate

cuts in 2024.

Investors await commentary from Chicago Fed President Austan

Goolsbee and his Minneapolis counterpart Neel Kashkari later in

the day for policy cues.

Meanwhile, Wells Fargo raised its year-end target for the

benchmark S&P 500 index to 5,535 - the highest among Wall

Street brokerages - from its previous forecast of 4,625​.

Cushioning some losses, Tesla rose 4.6% after CEO

Elon Musk said the company would unveil the Robotaxi on Aug. 8.

At 9:49 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

was up 72.78 points, or 0.19%, at 38,976.82, the S&P 500

was up 0.83 points, or 0.02%, at 5,205.17, and the Nasdaq

Composite was up 14.24 points, or 0.09%, at 16,262.76.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors advanced, with consumer

discretionary leading gains, while information

technology led declines.

Cryptocurrency-related stocks advanced, tracking rising

bitcoin prices. Exchange operator Coinbase Global ( COIN ),

crypto miner Marathon Digital ( MARA ) and software firm

MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) added between 8.2% and 11.2%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.60-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.74-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 15 new 52-week highs and one new low,

while the Nasdaq recorded 46 new highs and 33 new lows.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi Achar A in

Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Pooja Desai)