US stocks end mixed amid solid earnings, lacklustre CPI data

New York: US stocks finished Tuesday’s session on a mixed note as Wall Street digested a slew of corporate earnings and the consumer price index (CPI) data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 32.62 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 28,939.67. The S&P 500 was down 4.98 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 3,283.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 22.60 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 9,251.33, Xinhua reported.

Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors turned negative at market closing, with technology down 0.6 per cent, leading the laggards. Health care closed up 0.55 per cent, becoming the best-performing group.

J.P. Morgan Chase shares rose 1.17 per cent after the US investment bank reported quarterly results that topped estimates. Citigroup also delivered better-than-anticipated earnings on Tuesday, sending the stock up 1.56 per cent.

Expectations for the corporate earnings season were relatively low. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have declined by 2 per cent in the fourth quarter, according to FactSet.

On the data front, US CPI rose 0.2 per cent in December on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.3 per cent in November, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a 0.3-per cent advance.

Meanwhile, the so-called core CPI which strips out food and energy edged up 0.1 per cent in December, showed the report.