U.S. stocks fell Monday with the spotlight on this week’s consumer inflation report, while Nvidia (NVDA) shares fell amid a Chinese antitrust investigation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.1%, marking a losing week for the blue chip index. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell 0.4% in the wake of new records for both.
The next test for Wall Street stocks comes in a consumer inflation report, which will set the stage for the Federal Reserve’s final interest rate decision of the year. The November Consumer Price Index will test widespread expectations of a quarter-point rate cut on December 18 on Wednesday, after the latest monthly jobs report failed to shake that belief.
Meanwhile, Nvidia shares fell after Chinese authorities opened an investigation into the chipmaker for possible violations of anti-monopoly laws. The company’s lead in AI chips has put it in the middle of the US-China row over technology.
But US-listed Chinese stocks rose after Beijing took its first step toward easing monetary policy in more than a decade, signaling more and stronger stimulus measures are on the way. Shares of Alibaba (BABA, 9988.HK) and XPeng (XPEV, 9868.HK) rose, following Hong Kong stocks.
Markets appear to be closely following the abrupt fall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, with gold in port investments (GC=F) rising modestly. Optimism about China’s economy is believed to overshadow any concerns about geopolitical tensions in Syria, South Korea, France and elsewhere.
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