US: Stocks mostly rise ahead of inflation data

WALL Street stocks mostly rose on Tuesday ahead of key US inflation data and a hotly contested presidential debate.

Markets are eyeing Wednesday’s consumer price index report, with the Federal Reserve having signaled a likely interest rate cut later this month in light of moderating inflation.

Investors are also anticipating the first, and perhaps only, debate between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, which will take place on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

The debate “could potentially move the market a little bit but the uncertainty is not going to go away tonight,” said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.2 per cent at 40,736.96.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent to 5,495.52, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.8 per cent to 17,025.88.

The Dow’s losers included JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, which dropped 5.2 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively following commentary about their banks’ financial performance that disappointed investors.

Boeing was another weak link, falling 1.7 per cent amid worries that a machinists union will reject a new contract with the company and vote to strike.

Apple declined 0.4 per cent after the European Court of Justice ruled that the iPhone maker must pay 13 billion euros (S$18.7 billion) in back-taxes to Ireland.

Oracle jumped 11.4 per cent after reporting better than expected earnings. Revenues rose seven percent, boosted by gains in the cloud services business. AFP