The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that U.S. and Canadian stocks were essentially unchanged at the close of a choppy session Monday, ahead of crucial U.S. inflation data and the kickoff of first-quarter earnings season. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that the S&P 500, Dow and S&P/TSX Composite Index posted minimal losses while Nasdaq ended nominally higher. They were held in check by the highest benchmark U.S. Treasury yields since November in the wake of Friday's blowout American employment report. That report heightened chances that the Federal Reserve could delay implementing its first interest-rate cut at its monthly Federal Open Market Committee meetings longer than previously expected. The first-quarter reporting season officially kicks off on Friday with numbers from major U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo. Analysts expect aggregated S&P 500 earnings growth of 5.0 per cent year-on-year, down from the 7.2-per-cent annual estimate at the beginning of the quarter, according to LSEG. Tesla provided a boost, rising 4.9 per cent after chief executive officer Elon Musk said the company would unveil its self-driving Robotaxi on Aug. 8. Toronto ended flat at 22,260.30.