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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 0.12%, S&P 0.13%, Nasdaq 0.15%

(Updates to 14:08 EDT)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks waffled between modest gains and losses on

Monday, with few catalysts to steer investors one way or the

other ahead of crucial inflation data and the kick-off of

first-quarter earnings season.

All three major U.S. stock indexes were last modestly

higher, with gains held in check by the highest benchmark U.S.

Treasury yields since November in the wake of Friday's blowout

employment report.

That report heightened chances that the Federal Reserve

could delay implementing its first interest rate cut at its

monthly Federal Open Market Committee meetings longer than

previously expected.

"Wall Street is adjusting expectations to reflect the

fact that the Fed could be slower to lower interest rates and

that now the greatest likelihood is for a rate cut to occur at

the July FOMC meeting, rather than June," said Sam Stovall,

chief investment strategist of CFRA Research in New York.

On Wednesday, the Labor Department's March Consumer Price

Index (CPI) report is expected to show a slight cooldown in

monthly price growth and a nominal decrease in the annual core

number, which excludes volatile food and energy items.

"Markets are treading water," Stovall added. "(Investors

are) waiting for the for Wednesday's CPI report with the

expectation that it'll come in on target or possibly showing

less inflation than may currently be anticipated."

Year-on-year headline CPI is expected to gain some heat,

rising to 3.4% from 3.2% in February, underscoring inflation's

meandering journey back to the Fed's 2% annual target.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee

said on Monday the central bank must take into consideration how

long it can maintain its restrictive policy without damaging the

economy.

The first-quarter reporting season officially kicks off on

Friday with numbers from major U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM )

, Citigroup Inc ( C/PN ) and Wells Fargo & Co. ( WFC )

As of Friday, analysts expect aggregated S&P 500 earnings

growth of 5.0% year-on-year, down from the 7.2% annual estimate

at the beginning of the quarter, according to LSEG.

At 2:08 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 48.13 points, or 0.12%, to 38,952.17, the S&P 500

gained 6.98 points, or 0.13%, at 5,211.32 and the Nasdaq

Composite added 24.67 points, or 0.15%, at 16,273.19.

Among the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500, consumer

discretionary was enjoying the largest percentage

gain, while healthcare stocks were down the most.

Tesla provided a boost, rising 5.6% after CEO Elon

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

Cryptocurrency-related stocks also outperformed, tracking

rising bitcoin prices. Software firm MicroStrategy ( MSTR )

and exchange operator Coinbase Global ( COIN ), and

added 5.4% and 7.0%, respectively.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a

1.98-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.61-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 21 new 52-week highs and two new lows;

the Nasdaq Composite recorded 70 new highs and 73 new lows.