© Reuters
Investing.com — Stocks in New York moved lower in early trading on Tuesday, after data showed that consumer price growth in the U.S. slowed in line with expectations in November.
By 09:40 ET (14:40 GMT), the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average had slipped by 24 points or 0.1%, the benchmark S&P 500 had shed 12 points or 0.3%, and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had lost 19 points or 0.1%. The main averages on Wall Street all posted their highest closing levels so far this year in the prior session.
Annual headline consumer price growth edged down to 3.1% last month, decelerating from 3.2% in October, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday. Month-on-month, the reading inched up by 0.1%. Economists had forecast the measures at 3.1% and 0.0%, respectively.
The closely-watched “core” figure, which strips out volatile items like food and energy, rose by 4.0% annually, in line with the prior month. On a monthly basis, underlying price gains came in at 0.3%, a marginally faster pace than 0.2% in October. Both matched estimates.
The numbers seemed to bolster bets that the Fed will choose to leave interest rates higher throughout the spring. Although some market observers have been predicting that the central bank will begin to bring down borrowing costs early next year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has stressed that officials will continue to move “carefully” as they search for proof that a recent period of elevated inflation has been quelled.
On Wednesday, the Fed will unveil its latest monetary policy decision.
Epic Games wins Google antitrust lawsuit
A federal jury has found against Google in a high-profile antitrust lawsuit brought by “Fortnite”-maker Epic Games, sending shares in the tech giant’s parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) lower.
Epic had argued that the tech giant essentially used its Play app store as an illegal monopoly that unfairly charged high fees on developers and suppressed competition in the Android app market. According to a court filing, the jury ruled in favor of Epic on all counts.
The court will begin to decide what changes Google will need to put in place in January. In a statement quoted by Reuters, Google said it will appeal the ruling.
Elsewhere, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) shares also dropped after the software company posted weaker-than-expected revenue in its fiscal second quarter due to a challenging economic environment and heightened competition in the cloud computing sector.
Oil slips amid concerns over excess supply, sluggish demand
Oil prices slumped on Tuesday, as worries over excess supply offset the impact of an attack on a commercial chemical tanker by Iran-aligned Houthis.
The inflation data also threatened to exacerbate fears that Fed policymakers may leave interest rates at high levels for a longer than anticipated period of time, a trend that could eat away at demand in the world’s biggest fuel consumer.
By 09:45 ET, Brent oil futures expiring in February had slipped by 3.0% to $73.78 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures had fallen by 3.1% to $69.09 per barrel.
Meanwhile, spot gold was little changed at $1,982.72 per troy ounce. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of fellow currencies, also hovered around the flatline at 104.08.
Source: Investing.com
