DJIA down 167.13 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 14 Jun - US shares were trading lower at midday as sentiment turned cautious on interest rate prospects after Wall Street hit new highs.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed at record levels yesterday for the fourth straight session fuelled by good news on the inflation front.

Cooler than expected producer prices in May, including negative monthly growth, confirmed consumer price data of the previous day indicating inflation is on a downward trend.

An unexpected rise in the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits also brought cheer as a resilient labour market finally appeared to be showing signs of cooling.

But investors remain cautious on the path forward for interest rates.

Earlier this week the Fed acknowledged progress had been made on bringing down inflation but reiterated its mantra that it wanted to see more evidence before pivoting on monetary policy. In its "dot plot" it indicated there would be just one rate cut this year compared to the three it forecast in March.

Stubborn inflation has prompted the Fed to put back the timetable for rate cuts and prompted traders to redraw expectations.

Comments from Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee and Fed Governor Lisa Cook today will be closely watched while US consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell to 65.6 in June from 69.1 the previous month, according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan.

At 1614 GMT, the Dow Jones was losing 167.13 points, or 0.43%, at 38,479.97 points.

The S&P 500 was 15.05 points, or 0.28%, lower at 5,418.69 points.

The Nasdaq was down 5.87 points, or 0.03%, at 17,662.01 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 14-06-24 17:25:13 (0475) 5 NNNN