Dow struggles after record

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks were mixed Monday morning as investors welcomed a mild read on inflation, but showed caution at the end of a stellar month on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 12.27 to 13,108.67, Charts) lost a few points in the early going after ending last week at an all-time high.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite (down 7.41 to 2,549.80, Charts) slipped 0.4 percent after ending last week at a new 6-year high. The broader S&P 500 (down 0.59 to 1,493.48, Charts) index inched lower after ending last week near a more than six year high.

Stocks have surged in April as investors have welcomed a spate of better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. As of Friday's close, all three major gauges are up 5 percent on the month.

After such a run, investors were a bit reluctant Monday, despite the encouraging economic news.

Personal income rose 0.7 percent in March, after rising a revised 0.7 percent in the previous month. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought income would rise 0.5 percent. Personal spending rose 0.3 percent, missing forecasts for a rise of 0.5 percent.

The core PCE deflator, the report's inflation component, was flat, versus expectations for a rise of 0.1 percent.

In earnings news, Dow component Verizon (up $0.01 to $37.90, Charts, Fortune 500) reported lower quarterly earnings that nonetheless topped estimates. Shares were little changed.

With 63 percent of the S&P 500 having reported, earnings are currently on track to have risen 6.9 percent from a year ago, more than double what analysts were forecasting on April 1.

While the results have been better than what was expected, the first quarter does represent the slowest earnings growth in 3-1/2 years, with the S&P 500 breaking a streak of 14 quarters of double-digit percentage growth.

U.S. light crude oil for June delivery fell 38 cent to $66.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Treasury prices gained on the economic news, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.65 percent from 4.69 percent late Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained versus the euro after hitting an all-time low versus the European currency last week. The greenback was little changed versus the yen.