US stocks fell cautiously ahead of the inflation data. Boeing takes further retreat By Investing.com

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Investing.com — U.S. stocks fell Tuesday, giving back some of last session’s technology-led gains amid caution ahead of key inflation data later this week.

By 06:35 ET (11:35 GMT) it was down 255 points, or 0.7%, down 27 points, or 0.6%, and down 90 points, or 0.6%.

Major stock indexes closed higher on Monday, led by strong gains in chip designer and artificial intelligence darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:). That helped the tech-focused company have its best day since mid-November.

Things to keep in mind before announcing CPI

However, investors remain very cautious ahead of Thursday’s latest announcement, which will provide more clarity on what the U.S. central bank will do with interest rates in the first quarter of the new year.

Importantly, the monthly increase increased by 0.2%, bringing the annual growth rate down to 3.8%. This is a level not seen since mid-2021.

Data released Tuesday morning showed an unexpected contraction in U.S. exports in November as imports fell.

Boeing still in the spotlight

In the corporate sector, Boeing (NYSE:) socks fell 1.3% after loose parts were found in some grounded models of the planemaker’s 737 Max 9 jets by United Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Match Group (NASDAQ:) shares surged more than 10% after the Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Elliott Investment Management had amassed a roughly $1 billion stake in the dating app company.

Juniper Networks (NYSE:) surged more than 20% after the WSJ reported that Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE:) is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire the technology company for about $13 billion.

Tilray (NASDAQ:) shares rose 5.5% after the cannabis company reported strong performance in its marijuana and beverage segments, boosting revenue to new highs.

Crude oil rebounds ahead of API inventories

Oil prices rose Tuesday, rebounding after a sharp decline in the previous session as traders digested concerns about weak demand and Middle East tensions.

By 9:35 a.m. ET, futures were trading at $72.02 a barrel, up 1.8%, while the contract was trading at $77.38 a barrel, up 1.7%.

Both crude oil benchmarks fell more than 3% on Monday as sharp price cuts by top exporter Saudi Arabia raised concerns about slowing crude demand, especially from key Asian consumers.

However, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas and concerns that it could escalate into a regional crisis that could disrupt Middle East oil supplies remain an underlying support for oil markets.

The industry group’s latest figures on U.S. crude inventories are expected to be released later in the session ahead of official data on Wednesday.

It also traded up 0.4% at $2,042.50/oz and down 0.1% at 1.0945.

(Oliver Gray contributed to this article.)