US stocks flat ahead of Jackson Hole meeting

Wall Street stocks were essentially flat early Monday ahead of this week's Jackson Hole summit of central bankers and key US housing data.

Trading volume was expected to be light for a period that is traditionally a peak summer vacation week.

The biggest event is Friday's Jackson Hole meeting at which speeches by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi are expected to offer clues as to the extent that central banks will soon shift from a period of exceptionally low interest rates and aggressive stimulus.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was at 21,657.66, down 0.1 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost a hair at 2,425.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up to 6,218.46.

Political uncertainty in the US remained a preoccupation after President Donald Trump was widely criticized last week for his muted response to a white supremacist rally in the state of Virginia.

Sempra Energy rose 1.6 percent after it reached a deal to acquire Oncor, a Texas energy distributor, for $9.45 billion in cash and $9 billion in assumed debt, topping a bid by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.