Live Markets: US stocks take a step back before CPI
LIVE MARKETS-US stocks take a step back before CPI Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
US STOCKS TAKE A STEP BACK BEFORE CPI
Wall Street's three major indexes finished lower on Tuesday with July's consumer inflation reading due out before market open on Wednesday and hopes for Middle East peace fading.
The newly appointed secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed as long as the U.S. does not change its behaviour and accept Iran's conditions to end the war. The comments were the strongest indication yet a deal with Oman would not immediately reopen the strait unless the U.S. follows a memorandum of understanding it forged with Iran in June. With that, oil prices settled up more than 1%.
Speaking of rising prices, investors are anxiously awaiting the consumer price index (CPI) report with hopes for some sort of clues as to how the Federal Reserve might react.
July CPI is expected to rise 0.1% month-over-month vs. the prior report's 0.4% drop while it is expected to rise 3.4% yr/yr vs. a 3.5% increase in the last report, according to economists polled by Reuters.
Earlier in the day Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said he is more concerned about too-high inflation than any labor market weakness, though it is not clear if that worry translated into support for the interest-rate hike that a few of his colleagues wanted last month.
With that, only three of the S&P 500's .SPX 11 major industry sector indexes finished higher. Defensive Utilities .SPLRCU, up 1.11%, and Energy .SPNY, up 1.06%, led the gains. On the flip side Communication Services .SPLRCL was the biggest loser with a 2.12% decline. The sector's weakest stocks were AppLovin APP.O, which tumbled 6%, and heavyweight Alphabet GOOGL.O, which fell 3.8%.
However, despite weakness in the main indexes, there were some milestones under the hood.
The S&P 500 Banks Index .SPXBK barely squeaked to a record-high close with less than an index point gain to spare. The S&P Value Index .IVX also barely managed a record close with a measly 0.02% advance. The S&P Equal Dollar Weighted Index .SPXEW registered a more decisive record close with a 0.2% gain.
Here is your closing snapshot:
(Sinéad Carew, Terence Gabriel)
*****
EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:
S&P GLOBAL SURVEY: RISK APPETITE IS HIGHEST SINCE JANUARY CLICK HERE
EARNINGS KEEP DRIVING THE MARKET HIGHER CLICK HERE
WALL STREET CAMPS OUT WITH THE DOGS CLICK HERE
WHAT GETS SQUEEZED AS AMERICA'S AI SPENDING BOOM ACCELERATES? CLICK HERE
ALL THAT GLITTERS IS RALLYING AGAIN CLICK HERE
HALF-TIME IN EUROPE: EKING OUT GAINS CLICK HERE
THREE BIG THEMES, GOLDMAN SAYS EACH POSITIVE FOR RISK ASSETS FOR NOW CLICK HERE
IN THE AI ERA, DATA, NOT SCALE, MAY DRIVE M&A CLICK HERE
STOXX FLATLINES AS ENERGY STOCKS RISE, TRAVEL DOWN CLICK HERE
BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPE SET FOR SUBDUED START AS OIL TOPS $89 CLICK HERE
MIDDLE EAST DEADLOCK CLICK HERE
