U.S. stocks fluctuated on Tuesday as investors brace themselves for inflation data that is due to be released on Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg are expecting this data to show a 0.3% rise in the consumer price index, lowering the year-over-year inflation rate to 5.2%.
The S&P 500 gained 0.13% during Tuesday’s trading, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced by 0.4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slid by 0.37%. Looking at bonds, the yield on the 10-year note was up to 3.443% while the rate-sensitive two-year note yields rose to 4.056%.
“This is the week that could tell us that the US consumer is no longer showing resilience and in fact is rather weak; core inflation is making things more expensive, retail sales might show the consumer is tapped out, and the banks might paint a picture that American savings accounts are down and credit card debt is skyrocketing,” OANDA analyst Edward Moya said of the inflation data’s effect.
In addition to the inbound inflation data, the Labor Department’s jobs report that was released last week also gave insight into the labor market’s strength as well as the likelihood that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by another 25 basis points in May.