US Stocks: Wall St falls on inflation fears; Powell-Biden talks in focus

US Stocks: Wall St falls on inflation fears; Powell-Biden talks in focus

Energy outperformed with a 1.1% gain as Brent crude climbed above $120 a barrel after the European Union agreed to a partial ban on Russian oil.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday the U.S. central bank should be prepared to raise rates by a half percentage point at every meeting from now on until inflation is decisively curbed.

Waller's comments sparked a sell-off in bond markets, with the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbing to a one-week high, as traders scaled down expectations that the Fed might pause for breath after hikes in June and July.

"We haven't seen a genuine peak in inflation yet," said Max Kettner, chief multi-asset strategist at HSBC. "In the U.S., it's a peak technically, but it's much more about the composition of inflation in the next few months."

Biden said the Fed has a primary responsibility to control inflation and vowed not to seek "to influence its decisions inappropriately" ahead of a meeting with the central bank chief, scheduled at 1:15 p.m. (1715 GMT).

Last week, all the three major U.S. indexes snapped their longest weekly losing streak in decades as signs of inflation peaking and consumer resiliency brought back buyers into the market.

Still, they were on track