NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, after the lower-than-expected U.S. producer price index (PPI) data offered temporary relief to investors concerned about persistent inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 221.16 points, or 0.52 percent, to 42,518.28. The S&P 500 added 6.69 points, or 0.11 percent, to 5,842.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 43.71 points, or 0.23 percent, to 19,044.39.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with utilities and financials leading the gainers by adding 1.30 percent and 1.28 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services and health led the laggards by dropping 0.97 percent and 0.94 percent, respectively.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' PPI for December 2024 showed a 3.3 percent year-over-year increase, up from November's 3.0 percent but below economists' projections of 3.5 percent. On a monthly basis, PPI rose 0.2 percent, coming in under the forecasted 0.4 percent gain.
The core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 3.5 percent year over year, edging up from November's 3.4 percent but below expectations of a 3.8 percent increase. Month over month, core prices were flat, a marked slowdown from the anticipated 0.3 percent rise and November's 0.2 percent gain.
Capital Economics North America economist Thomas Ryan noted the release "seems encouraging" but it also "masks some price jumps in a few of the key components which feed directly into the Fed's preferred core PCE inflation gauge." Notably, domestic and international airfare prices -- which feed into the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index -- jumped in December.
Major technology stocks continued their decline on Tuesday, with Nvidia losing 1.1 percent and Apple falling 0.5 percent. Both companies have had a sluggish start to 2025 after the significant gains in 2024.
On the bond market front, the U.S. Treasury yields initially dropped following the PPI report. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield on Tuesday settled at 4.793 percent, up 0.6 basis points.
Still, markets remain cautious as they await further confirmation from the consumer price index (CPI) report for December 2024, set for release Wednesday morning. Attention is also turning to the start of the fourth-quarter earnings season, with major financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and BlackRock scheduled to release their results on Wednesday.
