NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock markets remained mostly unchanged Tuesday. mixed data in economic strengthdid little to remove uncertainty about where interest rates would go.
The S&P 500 was little changed in morning trading, still slightly lower. It’s the highest price ever The one I set last week. As of 10 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 43 points, or 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%.
U.S. Treasury yields eased slightly after initial volatility after some reports that the U.S. unemployment rate hit its worst level since 2021 last month, but employers added more jobs than economists expected. Meanwhile, a separate report said a fundamental measure of the strength of U.S. retailers’ earnings beat economists’ expectations in October.
Bond markets initially saw U.S. Treasury yields fall on mixed indicators. The natural reaction seemed to be that the data could be encouraging. federal reserve system It saw a slowing job market as the biggest threat to the economy, rather than rising inflation, and cut interest rates further in 2026. But yields quickly recovered, but have since fluctuated up and down.
How the Fed handles interest rates will be the biggest driver for Wall Street. That’s because lower interest rates can boost the economy and investment prices, even if it can worsen inflation. A report to be released Thursday will show just how bad inflation was last month, and economists expect it to show that prices for U.S. consumers continue to rise faster than anyone would like.
The report, released after trading opened on Tuesday, suggested price pressures were rising sharply, with average selling prices for businesses rising at the fastest pace since mid-2022. S&P Global’s preliminary report also said growth in overall business activity slowed to its lowest level since June.
“Tariffs are once again widely blamed for the price hikes, and the initial impact on manufacturing is now increasingly spilling over into services, exacerbating affordability issues,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 4.16% from 4.18% late Monday. The two-year bond yield, which is closer to expectations for the Fed, fell to 3.48% from 3.51%.
Continued volatility in stock prices amid the frenzy over artificial intelligence technology also contributed to the overall market restraint.
Oracle rose 1% and Broadcom rose 0.7%. they both had Last week saw a huge losseven though both companies reported stronger profits in their latest quarter than analysts expected.
But Coreweave, which lends access to top-of-the-line AI chips, fell 2.4%.
doubts remain It’s about whether all the spending that companies are broadly making on AI technology is yielding benefits and productivity that justify the costs.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, shares fell 3.3% after Pfizer Inc.’s 2026 profit forecast was lower than some analysts expected. The company’s revenue forecast for next year is between $59.5 billion and $62.5 billion, close to analysts’ expectations.
Kraft Heinz rose 0.6% after the company announced that Steve Cahillane, who most recently served as CEO of Keranova, will become CEO on January 1. When Kraft Heinz splits into two companies (expected to occur in the second half of 2026), Mr. Cahillane will lead one company that will retain the Heinz, Philadelphia, and Kraft Mac & Cheese brands.
In overseas stock markets, indexes fell in most regions of Europe and Asia.
Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.6% after preliminary factory figures showed a slight contraction in manufacturing. Investors widely expect the Bank of Japan to announce an interest rate hike later this week.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.2%, Hong Kong’s index fell 1.5% and Shanghai’s index fell 1.1%.
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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
