US STOCKS-S&P 500 dips as oil prices fan inflation fear, Oracle slumps on weak forecast

WestRock Co

12/09/2023 19:12

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        * 
      Oil prices spike on tight supplies, upbeat OPEC
    

        * 
      Oracle down after downbeat forecast, Q1 revenue miss
    

        * 
      WestRock jumps on Smurfit Kappa merger
    

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      Indexes: S&P 500 -0.25%, Nasdaq -0.64%, Dow +0.30%
    

  
 (Updated at 1:55 a.m. ET/ 1755 GMT)
    By Noel Randewich and Ankika Biswas
       Sept 12 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on
Tuesday as a jump in oil prices deepened worries about
persistent price pressures ahead of crucial inflation readings
this week, while Oracle slumped after its downbeat forecast and
results.    
    Oil prices jumped more than 1%, building on a recent rally
and stoking worries that sticky inflation could mean U.S.
interest rates stay higher longer in the aftermath of strong
economic data.
    "People are a little bit worried about energy prices picking
up pretty aggressively in recent weeks and that creates some
concerns as we look forward to November" when some investors
worry Federal Reserve policy makers may raise rates again, said
Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital LLC.
    Investors are awaiting August consumer price index data due
on Wednesday and producer prices reading scheduled for Thursday
to gauge the outlook for U.S. interest rates ahead of the Fed's
meeting on Sept. 20. 
    Interest rate traders see a 93% chance of rates remaining at
the current levels in September but just a 56% likelihood of a
pause at the November meeting, according to the CME FedWatch
Tool.
        "All the all the inputs that we get between now and the
November meeting will be important, especially those related to
inflation. So that thrusts a lot of importance on tomorrow's CPI
report," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley
Wealth.
  
    Investors will also monitor the European Central Bank's
policy decision on Thursday, when it is seen holding rates after
nine consecutive hikes.
    Cloud-services provider Oracle  ORCL.N  dropped 14% to its
lowest intra-day level in three months, after forecasting
current-quarter revenue below targets and narrowly missing
first-quarter expectations. 
    Cloud-computing heavyweights Amazon.com  AMZN.O  and
Microsoft  MSFT.O  fell by about 1%, pressured by Oracle's weak
forecast and by a rise in U.S. Treasury yields.       
    While higher oil prices fanned inflation fears, they lifted
energy stocks  .SPNY  by 1.3% to lead gains among major S&P 500
sector indexes.  O/R     
         Apple  AAPL.O  was down 1.4%, hurt by a report that
China's Huawei Technologies has raised the 
    second-half shipment target
     for its Mate 60 series smartphone by 20%. 
  
        Also, Apple 
    unveiled a new iPhone
     on Tuesday amid uncertainty about market access in China
and intensifying competition. 
  
        The S&P 500 was down 0.25% at 4,476.45 points.
  
        The Nasdaq declined 0.64% to 13,828.41 points, while the
Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.30% at 34,767.56 points.
  
        The most traded stock in the S&P 500 was Tesla Inc
 TSLA.OQ , with $28.3 billion worth of shares exchanged during
the session. The electric car maker's shares declined 1.67%.
  
    WestRock  WRK.N  jumped 3.7% on agreeing to merge with
Europe's Smurfit Kappa  SKG.I  to create the world's largest
listed paper and packaging company, worth nearly $20 billion.
    Advance Auto Parts  AAP.N  lost 5.7% after S&P Global
downgraded the auto parts retailer's credit and debt ratings
from investment grade (BBB-) to junk (BB+).
    Zions Bancorp  ZION.O  jumped 7.5% after the U.S. regional
lender posted a slight increase in its monthly net interest
income growth.
         Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the
S&P 500  .AD.SPX  by a 1.2-to-one ratio.
  
        The S&P 500 posted 12 new highs and 14 new lows; the
Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and 161 new lows.
  

 (Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru,
and by Noel Randewich in Oakland, Calif.; Editing by Arun
Koyyur, Vinay Dwivedi and David Gregorio)
 ((noel.randewich@tr.com))