Stock market today: Wall Street holds steady as inflation report comes in as expected

By Associated Press, The Associated Press on December 12, 2023.

NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street is drifting in early trading after a report showed inflation in the United States is behaving pretty much as expected. The S&P 500 edged down 0.1% Tuesday, a day after hitting a 20-month high. The Dow and the Nasdaq composite were little changed. Prices for gasoline, food and other living costs rose 3.1% last month from a year earlier, slightly less than October’s 3.2% rate and in line with expectations. The Federal Reserve is expected to stand pat on interest rates Wednesday. Oracle tumbled after reporting revenue that fell short of forecasts. Crude oil prices fell.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Wall Street tilted toward small gains early Tuesday ahead of new U.S. inflation data that will likely set the tone for the Federal Reserve’s final meeting of the year.

Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.1% before the bell and they are up about 0.2% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

On Tuesday, the government will release its November report on consumer inflation. Analysts expect the report to show that inflation continued slowing to 3.1% from 3.2% in October. On Wednesday, the government will release its November report on inflation at the wholesale level, which is also expected to show that the rate of inflation is easing.

Wall Street is overwhelmingly betting that the Fed will keep its benchmark interest rate at a range of 5.25% to 5.50% into early 2024 and could start cutting rates by the middle of that year.

“With inflation coming down faster than expected, it now appears likely that the Fed will refrain from additional rate hikes,” Brian Rose, a senior U.S. economist at UBS, said in a note to investors. “At the same time, inflation is still too high and the labor market is still too tight for the Fed to consider cutting rates soon.”

Several big companies will report their earnings this week and are among the few remaining to release their results. Software company Adobe will report on Wednesday and Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants will release its results on Friday.

Google is down before the opening bell after a major setback. A federal court jury found Monday that Google’s Android app store has been protected by anticompetitive barriers that have damaged smartphone consumers and software developers, dealing a blow to a major pillar of a technology empire.

Hasbro tumbled nearly 6% after it said in a regulatory filing that it was laying off 1,000 employees – about 15% of its global workforce – with demand for toys and games in decline after a pandemic boom.

Oracle shares fell more than 9% after the software company missed Wall Street’s second-quarter sales targets.

Choice Hotels is going hostile in its takeover bid for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts after repeated attempts to reach a deal with the rival hotel chain were rebuffed. Shares of Wyndham rose nearly 3% in off-hours trading.

In Europe at midday, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.1% while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.1%. In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.3%.

On Tuesday, the Office for National Statistics reported that Britain’s wage growth saw its most significant slowdown in nearly two years in November, accompanied by a drop in job vacancies. The data were seen as an indicator inflation is abating due to high borrowing costs and could help shape the Bank of England’s interest rate decision on Thursday.

In Asian trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 added 0.2% to 32,843.70. Data released on Tuesday showed wholesale prices in Japan rose 0.3% from a year earlier in November, the slowest rate of increase in almost three years. That suggested a moderation in inflationary pressures as the central bank weighs whether or not to relax its ultra-lax monetary policy.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.1% to 16,374.50, and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,003.44.

Chinese leaders are reportedly holding an annual economic conference that is expected to wrap up Tuesday with pledges to spur stable growth.

In Seoul, the Kospi was up 0.4% at 2,535.27. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.5% to 7,235.30.

India’s Sensex dropped 0.3%, and the SET in Bangkok lost 0.6%.

Treasury yields in the bond market were generally lower. The 10-year yield slipped to 4.18% from 4.23% late Monday. In October it was above 5% and at its highest level since 2007.

U.S. benchmark crude oil retreated 38 cents to $70.94 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 43 cents to $75.60 per barrel.

The U.S. dollar fell to 145.08 Japanese yen from 146.16 yen. The euro rose to $1.0803 from $1.0763.

On Monday, the S&P 500 rose 0.4%, finishing at its highest level in 20 months. The Dow gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq added 0.2%.