Stocks on Wall Street finished largely flat on Monday as traders prepared for fresh consumer inflation data that could provide new clarity on the US Federal Reserve's battle against rising prices.

The Fed has held its key lending rate at a 23-year high for months now as it looks to return inflation firmly to its long-run goal of two percent.

Tuesday's data will be closely watched for signs of whether January's monthly uptick in inflation was a one-off or it proves to be more sustained.

The Dow Jones was the only major Wall Street index to gain, rising 0.1 percent to 38,769.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent to 5,117, while the Nasdaq lost 0.4 percent to finish at 16,019.

"The market's a little anxious ahead of the February report, because it wants to be able to see that basically, the January surprise was not repeatable," said Patrick O'Hare from Briefing.com.

He added that Tuesday's inflation data could move markets, "because it's going to help shape the market's thinking about what the Fed might do with monetary policy."

Among individual firms, Facebook's parent company Meta fell 4.4 percent amid Monday's Nasdaq slump.

And pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly dropped 3.6 percent, a few days after the US Food and Drug Administration announced it was delaying a decision on an anti-Alzheimer's drug. (AFP)