U.S. stocks were mostly unchanged Tuesday as investors awaited U.S. inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision at its Dec 17-18 meeting. After a short rally to record highs, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the Nasdaq Composite all hovered near the flatline.
Oracle Corp (ORCL, Financial): After the company's fiscal Q2 report was worse than expected, shares of ORCL slid 8%. However, the stock is up 66% year to date.
Alphabet's (GOOG, Financial) new quantum computing chip marks a notable technological breakthrough, as the company's stock advanced more than 5%. A tech analyst said this development is 'Another indication that Alphabet leads in advanced computing.'
Meanwhile, Nvidia Corp. (Nvda, Financial) sank more than 2% on Monday, and that loss extended into Tuesday when it plunged almost 1% more. This comes after reports that the chip giant is being investigated by a Chinese antimonopoly authority. Meta Platforms Inc. (META, Financial), which also saw earlier declines, rose over 1%.
Investors are focusing on Wednesday's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. November is expected to bring a 0.3 percent rise and a 2.7% yearly rise. The data could hold key clues about how the Federal Reserve thinks about interest rates in 2024.
