US: Stocks close lower ahead of inflation data

WALL Street stocks retreated on Tuesday ahead of key US inflation data as markets awaited talks between President Biden and Republican leaders on a high-stakes impasse over fiscal issues.

Investors were cautious ahead of Wednesday’s consumer price data, which will be a key input in the Federal Reserve’s upcoming monetary policy decisions.

“It’s a wait and see,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.

Biden is meeting with House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to try to reach agreement on lifting the national debt ceiling, a disagreement that has raised worries about a US default.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.2 per cent at 33,561.81.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.5 per cent to 4,119.17, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.6 per cent to 12,179.55.

Among individual companies, Boeing jumped 2.3 per cent as it reached an agreement to sell as many as 300 planes to Ryanair over the next decade.

But Paypal plunged 12.7 per cent despite reporting better-than-expected results as analysts pointed to a lowered profit margin outlook.

Under Armour dropped 5.4 per cent after the apparel maker projected that revenue would be flat to “up slightly” in 2023.

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But Palantir surged 23.3 per cent as the software company predicted it would profitable in each quarter of 2023 citing the demand for its artificial intelligence offerings. AFP