New York:US stocks closed lower on Tuesday as a decline in Nvidia shares and stronger-than-expected inflation data stoked fears of further interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 157.86 points, or 0.3%, to 52,231.89. The S&P 500 declined 29.01 points, or 0.38%, to 7,520.93, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 187.26 points, or 0.74%, to 25,065.87.
According to Anadolu Agency – English, Nvidia shares slumped 5.53% to $168.80, with the company's market capitalization briefly falling below $4 trillion during the session. This decline came as investors responded to an investigation by Nvidia's independent directors. The directors announced that they had retained former federal prosecutor Joon H. Kim and law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz to conduct the investigation.
Meanwhile, US consumer prices rose 0.4% in October, exceeding expectations of a 0.3% increase but slowing from September's 0.6% rise. Core consumer prices, excluding food and energy, rose 0.3% month-on-month, surpassing the forecast of 0.2%. The unavailability of annual headline and core inflation figures was attributed to the 2025 government shutdown, which prevented data collection for October that year.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller, before the inflation data release, expressed support for a quarter-point rate hike in December but suggested a half-point increase should be considered if monthly core inflation remained around 0.3% or higher. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note increased by 12.6 basis points to 4.988% after exceeding 5% earlier.
Despite the stock market declines, the VIX volatility index fell 1.7% to approximately 19.60. Gold prices dropped 2.6% to $4,030.70 an ounce, while West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped 0.69% to $86.25 a barrel. The euro weakened 0.55% against the dollar to $1.116.
In contrast, European stock markets closed mostly higher as declining oil prices fueled optimism over easing inflationary pressures. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.27% to 658.32. Germany's DAX rose 0.31% to 26,347.45, France's CAC 40 added 0.55% to 8,278.59, and Italy's FTSE MIB climbed 0.69% to 51,755.08. Spain's IBEX 35 advanced 0.98% to 19,936.40, while the UK's FTSE 100 fell 0.29% to 10,751.59.