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Stock Market News for Dec 14, 2022

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U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday after inflation data showed more signs of cooling, but finished off their best levels as investors shifted focus to Fed’s key policy decision on the next interest rate hike. All three major indexes ended in positive territory.

How Did The Benchmarks Perform?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) added 0.3% or 103.60 points to finish at 34,108.64 points.

The S&P 500 gained 0.7% or 29.09 points to end at 4,019.65 points. Energy, real estate and communication stocks were the biggest gainers.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) added 1.9%, while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR (XLRE) advanced 2.2%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) gained 1.7%. Ten of the 11 sectors of the benchmark index ended in positive territory.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 1% or 113.08 points to close at 11,256.81 points.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was down 9.80% to 22.55. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.83-to-1 ratio. On Nasdaq, a 1.49-to-1 ratio favored advancing issues.

Stocks Rally on Signs of Inflation Cooling

Stocks rallied on Tuesday, with the Dow at one point up more than 700 points, as the consumer price index showed inflation in November fell to its lowest level in almost a year. CPI for November increased 0.1%, lower than expectations of a rise of 0.3%. This set the tone for the day, sending stocks on a rally.

However, the rally lost its steam in the afternoon as investors shifted focus to Fed’s policy decision on its next interest rate hike. The Fed, which began its two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, will be announcing a fresh increase in interest rates on Wednesday.

Investors are hoping for a 50-basis point rate hike in December as they believe the Fed might scale back the pace of its interest rate increases as inflation is showing signs of cooling. The Fed increased interest rates by 75 basis points for the fourth consecutive time last month.

However, Fed Chair Jerome Powell last week said that the central bank could go slow on its aggressive rate-hike policy in the coming months, which could start as early as December. This has further made market participants hopeful. Many are now even hopeful about a 25-basis point rate hike in December but that seems to be a far cry.

Following the release of the CPI data, treasury yields fell. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 3.501%, after declining 11 basis points. Tech stocks, which has been one of the biggest casualties of rising inflation, rallied on Tuesday. Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (META - Free Report) jumped 4.7%, while Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL - Free Report) increased 2.5%. Meta Platforms has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Also, energy stocks were big gainers on Tuesday, with shares of Chevron Corporation (CVX - Free Report) increasing 2.2% and Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM - Free Report) gaining 1.1%.

Economic Data

The Labor Department reported that the consumer price index for November increased 7.1% from a year ago, lower than the 7.7% increase recorded in the month earlier and beating expectations of a rise of 7.3%. On a month-over-month basis, CPI in November increased just 0.1%, beating expectations of a 0.3% rise.

Core CPI, which excludes the volatile, food and energy prices, increased 0.2% month over month in November, beating expectations of 0.3%. Year over year Core CPI increased 6%, beating expectations of 6.1%.

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