US benchmark equity indexes were lower after midday Monday as markets evaluated an inflation survey and awaited official price growth data for November due later in the week.

The S&P 500 was down 0.5% at 6,063 intraday, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% to 19,774.9. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.3% to 44,531.2. Among sectors, communication services saw the steepest decline, while energy led the gainers.

The S&P 500 is expected to end 2025 at a 7,100 level, suggesting a roughly 17% upside from Friday's record close amid continued economic and consumer resilience, Oppenheimer Asset Management said in a Monday note to clients.

In economic news, US consumers' inflation expectations rose slightly across the short-, medium-, and long-term horizons in November, a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed.

"Households expressed more optimism about their year-ahead financial situations, while earnings and household income growth expectations both rose in November," according to the survey.

Government data are expected to show Wednesday that US consumer inflation rose 0.2% sequentially and 2.7% annually last month, according to a Bloomberg-compiled consensus.

The official producer prices report for November is scheduled to be released Thursday.

The US 10-year yield rose 3.3 basis points to 4.19% intraday Monday, while the two-year rate added 2.2 basis points to 4.12%.

In company news, Comcast (CMCSA) reached long-term agreements to distribute Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) content to Xfinity subscribers in the US and Sky customers in the UK and Ireland. Comcast shares were down 9.3%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500 and the second-worst on the Nasdaq, while Warner Bros. rose 1.6%.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) shares dropped 5.1% as BofA Securities downgraded its rating on the chipmaker's stock to neutral from buy and reduced its price objective to $155 from $180.

AMD's potential to gain market share is limited by higher competitive risks in artificial intelligence against Nvidia's (NVDA) "dominance" and increasing cloud preference for custom chips from Marvell Technology (MRVL) and Broadcom (AVGO), BofA said in a note to clients.

Mondelez International (MDLZ) is exploring a potential acquisition of Hershey (HSY), Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources. Hershey shares jumped 13%, the top gainer on the S&P 500, while Mondelez fell 1.3%.

Enphase Energy (ENPH) said owners of Enphase IQ batteries will be able to participate in NextEnergy's tariff program in the Netherlands under a new collaboration between the companies. Enphase shares were up 7.3%, the second-best performer on the S&P 500.

Oracle (ORCL), MongoDB (MDB), Casey's General Stores (CASY), Toll Brothers (TOL), and C3.ai (AI) are among the companies scheduled to report results after Monday's closing bell.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil increased 2.1% to $68.58 a barrel intraday.

Gold was up 1% at $2,685.50 per troy ounce, while silver jumped 3.2% to $32.59 per ounce.