The S&P 500 slipped Monday, as investors opted for caution ahead of  a meeting between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington as well as the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium.

At 11:55 ET (16:55 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 38 points, or 0.1%, the S&P 500 index slipped 0.2%, while the NASDAQ Composite fell 0.2%.

The main Wall Street indices notched their second straight positive week last week, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average joined the benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite in reaching a new all-time peak during the week.

Zelensky heads for Washington 

Zelensky is due to meet with Trump in Washington on Monday in a bid to arrange the outlines of a potential peace deal.

Ahead of meeting, Trump said in on Truth Social that Zelenskyy "can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.’ The president also suggested that any deal would not include Ukraine regaining control of Crimea, which was annex by Russia in 2014.

"Remember how it started. No getting back Obama-given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE," Trump added.

Zelensky, who will be flanked by leaders from a host of European countries, has said he supports a "swift and reliable" termination to the more than three-year-old conflict, but said Russia must be willing to end the war "it started."

Trump said on Sunday that Zelensky could end the war with Russia ‘almost immediately’ by acquiescing to Moscow’s demands.

Jackson Hole awaited for more rate cues 

The main economic focus this week is squarely on Federal Reserve Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday, which is expected to provide more cues on interest rates.

Powell’s address comes amid growing conviction that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in September, especially following soft payrolls and consumer inflation readings for July. Investors are pricing in a 83% chance for a 25 bps cut in September, CME Fedwatch showed.

Strong producer inflation data released last week largely ruled out the chances of a bigger cut. 

Walmart, Target to round off Q2 earnings

A host of major retailers are set to report their second-quarter earnings this week, rounding off a mostly positive reporting season. 

{{7997|Walmart (NYSE:WMT)}} and {{8180|Target (NYSE:TGT)}} will be the most closely watched, with other major retailers including {{8064|Home Depot  (NYSE:HD)}}, Lowe’s Companies Inc (NYSE:LOW), and {{8227|TJX Companies (NYSE:TJX)}} also on tap. 

The earnings will provide more insight into the U.S. consumer, amid some concerns that President Donald Trump’s tariffs will chip away at private spending. 

About 90% of S&P 500 companies have reported June quarter earnings so far, with 81% of the ones that reported logging stronger-than-expected prints, data from FactSet showed. 

Other majors reporting this week include Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY), {{941155|Alibaba (NYSE:BABA)}}, {{6378|Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU)}}, {{41268|Palo Alto Networks Inc (NASDAQ:PANW)}} and {{7869|Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI)}}. 

Elsewhere, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock fell after The Times newspaper reported that the electric vehicle manufacturer was offering discounts of up to 40% on leased vehicles in the U.K..

Novo Nordisk (CSE:NOVOb) gained strongly after the drugmaker’s Wegovy obesity drug was granted accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of a serious liver disease.