Wall Street performance muted as focus moves to key US inflation data

Wall Street's main indexes were little changed on Tuesday following post-election gains over the past few days as focus moved to key U.S. inflation data later in the week for more signals on the country's economic and monetary policy outlook.

 

Some of the stocks expected to perform well under President-elect Donald Trump's presidency gave back gains. Tesla , which has soared nearly 40% since Nov. 5, fell 2.5%. 

The EV maker weighed on the consumer discretionary sector that lost 0.3%. 

The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 0.2% after the index closed at a three-year high on Monday. Trump Media & Technology Group's shares were down 7.7%. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 107.69 points, or 0.24%, to 44,400.82, the S&P 500 gained 6.11 points, or 0.10%, to 6,007.46, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 9.09 points, or 0.05%, to 19,307.85. 

The blue-chip Dow was boosted by a 5.2% gain in Honeywell , that hit a record high, after activist investor Elliott Investment said it has built a stake worth more than $5 billion in the industrial conglomerate. 

Some crypto stocks eased after soaring in the past few sessions as bitcoin pulled back after nearing the $90,000 mark. Bitcoin miners MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms fell 3.5% and 8.4%, respectively. 

"I don't attribute it to much more than a little bit of profit taking after a fabulous week," said Paul Nolte, senior wealth adviser and market strategist, Murphy & Sylvest. 

The three major indexes closed at record highs on Monday as investors broadly expected Trump's proposed tax cuts and expectations of easier regulatory policies to help equities. 

Focus will now be on Wednesday's consumer price inflation data, followed by producer prices inflation and retail sales data through this week, that will provide direction to the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy path.

 

Nolte said a lot of the sentiment readings have been generally pretty good, but the retail sales numbers will be important as they show "what consumers do than what they say". 

Markets have already dialed back expectations for interest rate reductions over the next year, given strong economic data and the possible inflationary impact of some of Trump's policies. 

Traders are still pricing in a strong chance - 65% - of a 25 basis point interest rate cut at the Fed's December meeting, according to CME FedWatch. 

Fed officials Thomas Barkin, Neel Kashkari and Patrick Harker are expected to speak later in the day, while Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Thursday at an event in Dallas. 

Biotech firm Novavax dropped 9.1% after cutting its annual revenue forecast due to lower-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 vaccine. 

Shopify's U.S.-listed shares climbed 20% after the Canadian tech firm beat analysts' estimates for third-quarter revenue.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.48-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.38-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 31 new 52-week highs and nine new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 88 new highs and 52 new lows.