U.S. Stocks Wobble as Wall Street Awaits September Inflation Reports

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks wobbled as investors awaited data on inflation this week that could give the Federal Reserve more reason to continue with its aggressive actions to cool demand.

At 11:03 ET (15:03 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 158 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq was down 0.5%.

Stocks have fallen for the last few days because data continues to suggest the Fed will stay on its path of aggressive interest rate increases. Investors have worried that a too-aggressive Fed could push the U.S. economy into a recession, and risk-off sentiment has weighed on growth stocks.

Money markets are giving it a 92% chance that the Fed hikes its benchmark rate another 0.75 percentage point when it meets next in November, Reuters reported.

The consumer price index for September is due to be reported Thursday morning.

In addition, big banks will report their third quarter earnings starting on Friday with JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM). CEO Jamie Dimon said on Monday that a serious set of challenges will likely tip the U.S. into a recession in six to nine months.

Chip stocks were also in focus after they dragged the Nasdaq down 1% on Monday, which was a quiet trading day given holidays in Canada, Japan and South Korea. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares fell 1.6% on Tuesday, while shares of Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) shares fell 2.7%.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures was down 1.6%, to $89.42 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures was down 1.6% to $94.58 a barrel. Gold Futures rose 0.2% to $1678.