Wall Street opens mostly lower

US stock indices opened the second session of the week lower after two sessions of surging gains on short-covering after marking the worst week in two years, following earlier data from the world's largest economy. 

Earlier today, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester spoke about the economic outlook and monetary policy at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Breakfast, while the NFIB Small Business Index rose to 106.9 from 104.9 in December, beating expectations of 106.2. 

The White House announced a new budget plan, which includes a 10-year $200 billion plan to improve US infrastructure and $710 billion for defense, $80 billion for tech, and $18 billion for the border wall. 

The White House also released its forecasts for GDP growth, putting it at 3% in 2018, compared to 2.4% before, and 3.2% for 2019, compared to 2.7% before, and finally 3.1% in 2020. 

Consumer prices are expected to rise 2.1% in 2018, 2% in 2019 and 2.2% in 2020, while unemployment is projected to fall to 3.9% in 2018, 3.7% in 2019 and 3.8% in 2020. 

Finally, the White House expects 10-year treasury bond yields to average 2.6% in 2018, and for the budget deficit to hit $873 billion this year, before reaching $984 billion in 2019.

Congress reached a last-minute temporary budget deal on Friday after a brief hours-long government shutdown, the second one this year, before both the Senate and House of Representatives passed the deal and President Donald Trump signed it into law. 

Markets await US inflation data later this week, specifically consumer and producer prices in addition to retail sales, industrial, housing, and consumer confidence data.  

As of 03:21 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 fell 0.22%, or 5.86 points to 2,650.14, while Dow Jones dipped 0.25%, or 72.25 points to 24,529.02. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ slipped 0.01%, or 0.86 points to 6,981.10.