• Indexes were mixed Tuesday as investors prepared for this week's key inflation report.
  • Bank of America expects the upcoming CPI report to be more important than markets may believe.
  • The report will be a key input for the Fed as it heads into the last policy meeting of 2024 next week.

US stocks wavered on Tuesday as investors prepared to digest the November inflation report due this week.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose slightly, though remained below record highs achieved at the end of last week. The rally stumbled on Monday after a Chinese probe into Nvidia sent the equity giant into decline.

Wall Street investors are awaiting November's consumer price index report, set to be published Wednesday morning. Economists project that prices rose 2.7% annually, slightly above October's 2.6% increase.

According to Bank of America, the slightly hotter reading could sway markets more than expected, given that the options traders are preparing for the smallest CPI-related move since inflation started rising in 2021.

Meanwhile, investors will be watching the inflation data to help determine the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut decision at next week's meeting.

Markets imply an 86.1% chance the Fed will cut rates by a quarter-point before the end of the year.

Oracle shares dropped more than 8% Wednesday after an earnings miss and weaker guidance. Share of Google parent Alphabet, meanwhile, jumped almost 5% after the tech giant's announcement of its quantum computing chip, Willow.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. bell on Tuesday:

Here's what else is happening:

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

  • West Texas Intermediate crude oil slid 0.12% to $68.29 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, slumped by o.19% to $72.01 a barrel.
  • Gold rose 0.70% to $2,705 an ounce.
  • The 10-year Treasury yield increased two basis points to 4.228%.
  • Bitcoin fell 1.4% to $97,934.83.
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