Major indexes were slightly lower Thursday morning after a couple of lackluster days for the U.S. stock market that followed a big post-election rally, as investors await comments this afternoon from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The Dow Jones rose Thursday morning after key inflation data and ahead of Fed Chair Powell's speech. Disney soared on earnings.

Retail sales, plus another inflation report, are this week's main remaining economic data releases. Plus, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is set to speak on the economic outlook, and there are a few earnings still on the slate.

Markets on Wall Street rose modestly in early trading Thursday as more corporate earnings are released ahead of another inflation update from the U.S. government. Futures for the S&P 500 were up just 0.