4.05pm: Nasdaq gives back nearly 200 points
US stocks finished the trading session lower as producer price index (PPI) data for November showed a 9.6% year-over-year increase, the fastest pace on record and above the 9.2% expected by economists.
At the close, the Dow lost 107 points to 35,544, while the S&P 500 eased 35 points at 4,634 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 176 points to 15,238.
Notable movers included shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), which slipped as much as 2% after CEO Elon Musk announced that he has sold another $906.5 million worth of company shares.
12:10pm: US equities lower midday on inflation anxiety
US stocks were lower midday as new inflation data continued to show a sharp rise in prices.
The Tuesday slide for stocks comes after the November reading for the producer price index showed a year-over-year increase of 9.6%, the fastest pace on record and above the 9.2% expected by economists.
As of noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 130 points, or 0.37%, to 35,519. The S&P 500 fell 53 points, or 1.15%, to 4,615.
And the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 282 points, or 1.86%, to 15,121.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading group IG, said that “buyers are still in short supply across markets” as investors await the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting this week.
“US producer prices have risen sharply, at their fastest pace since 2010, something likely to put the discussion tomorrow into a more hawkish frame,” he said. “Tech stocks continue to be the big losers, while by comparison the Dow, with its relatively smaller tech weighting than its broader rival the S&P 500, is holding up well, losing only around 0.3%.”
He added: “Investors continue to expect higher prices to flow through the economy regardless of what the Fed does, but a shift towards rate hikes next year seems very much nailed on.”
The biggest gainer on the day so far is CannTrust Holdings Inc (TSX:TRST, NYSE:CTST), up 5,000% to $0.0051 a share.
11.25am: Proactive North America headlines:
Emmaus Life Sciences releases new post-hoc analysis of Phase 3 study data highlighting effectiveness of Endari in treating sickle cell disease
Psyched Wellness (CSE:PSYC, OTCQB:PSYCF) hires Del Mahabadi as digital marketing consultant to drive its AME-1 product launch
Progressive Planet receives exceptional 28-day Strength Activity Index results for PozGlass 100G SCM
Royal Road Minerals enters into two binding Heads of Agreements over properties located near its Guintär copper and gold project
ImagineAR to launch metaverse celebrity hologram e-greetings globally on Famedays.com on December 20
Hillcrest Energy names former DaimlerChrysler executive Dr. Heinz-Georg Burghoff as commercialization consultant
Recruiter.com announces partnership with workforce intelligence company, Revelio Labs, to produce 'Market Trends Analysis: Recruiting Recruiters'
Esports Entertainment Group migrates key iGaming properties to its proprietary Idefix platform
Audacious to partner with First Americans of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe to develop cannabis operation in New York State
HempFusion (TSX:CBD.U, OTCQX:CBDHF) Wellness unveils $4M annual savings initiative and updates on retail growth
Malta set to green light use of recreational cannabis as a further four countries prepare to follow suit
CLS Holdings USA (CSE:CLSH, OTCQB:CLSH) announces record-breaking gross profit margin for November
Royal Road Minerals announces results from first three drill holes at Guintär copper-gold project in Colombia
Kodiak Copper reveals new drill results from Gate Zone on its flagship MPD copper-gold project in British Columbia
Braxia Scientific hits milestone as landmark psilocybin clinical trial begins with participants receiving first doses
Bhang partners with INDVR Brands to bring its products to Colorado
Organic Garage (TSX-V:OG) says Future of Cheese has launched a truffle-infused plant-based butter for the holiday season
i-80 Gold announces US$135 million financing package to advance its Nevada mid-tier gold producer aim
Empower Clinics and Fobi AI (TSX-V:FOBI, OTCQB:FOBIF) launch premier SMS integration system
Musk’s Tesla to accept dogecoin for Tesla merchandise payment
American Manganese advances demonstration plant for lithium-ion battery recycling and upcycling project
Ketamine One (NEO:MEDI.AQN) Capital reports its first year of revenue generation since going public
Vox Royalty (TSX-V:VOX) eyeing resource upgrades at six partner projects in next six months as it updates on exploration
ACME Lithium proposes to launch non-brokered flow-through private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of $1 million
Pfizer's acquisition of Arena "shows big pharma's interest in cannabinoid medicines
9.47am: US stocks in the red at open
US shares started lower Tuesday as investors mulled over US producer price inflation, which came in higher than expected.
In early deals in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost around 12 points to stand at 35,634. The S&P 500 shed 25 points at 4,643.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq index lost around 155 points at 15,257.
In November the producer price index (PPI) showed a year-over-year increase of 9.6%, the fastest pace on record and above the 9.2%, which had been pencilled in by economists. It rose 0.8% month-on-month, which was also above the 0.5% expected.
"We expect another hefty increase in the core in December, lifting core PPI inflation to 9.0% from November’s 7.8%. But this should be the peak," suggested Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics in a note.
"A combination of favorable base effects and smaller month-to-month increases should start to drive down the year-over-year rate, though we expect it to remain above 6% through mid-year."
6.30am: US stocks seen opening down
US stocks are expected to open weaker Tuesday as concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the global economy increase and with the US Federal Reserve’s latest two-day policy-setting meeting getting underway.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average eased back 0.05% in pre-market trading, while the broader S&P 500 index shed 0.23%, and those for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 declined 0.56%.
After reaching a new record on Friday, the S&P 500 fell 0.91% to 4,669 on Monday, while the Dow retreated 0.89% to 35,651 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.39% to 15,413.
US Fed chair Jerome Powell is expected to announce an acceleration in the winding up of the central bank's quantitative easing (QE) program when the Federal Open Market Committee wraps up its meeting on Wednesday after data released last Friday showed the US consumer price index surged 6.8% year-over-year in November.
“Ahead of the Fed tomorrow, there was a decidedly risk-off tone in markets yesterday as investors were alarmed by some of the virus headlines, especially those here in the UK, and also nervous ahead of the big central bank week,” commented Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid.
“Admittedly this comes in the context of the S&P 500 having recovered back to its all-time record high by the end of last week, so even with this decline, global equities are still some way above their lows after the Omicron variant was first discovered. But it does speak to the jitters throughout markets that we could get some hawkish surprises from the various policy decisions this week, as well as continued concern about further COVID-19 restrictions in light of Omicron.”