S&P500, Nasdaq, Dow Futures Rangebound As Investors Await Key Inflation Data To Judge Rate Hike Possibilities — ORCL, AAPL, NVDA, CURLF In Focus

• The S&P 500 ended 0.3% lower, while the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%.
• US crude settled near $83 after Iran reiterated that it would keep the Strait of Hormuz shut until its demands are met.
• Super Micro and CoreWeave reported strong quarterly earnings and furnished strong yearly outlooks on strong AI enterprise demand.

U.S. stock indices ended lower on Tuesday as oil prices jumped, stoking rate hike worries ahead of key CPI data due on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 ended 0.3% lower, while the Nasdaq 100 slipped 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalizations, added 0.3%.

Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were flat, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures inched up 0.1%. 

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) slipped 0.3%, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ended Tuesday 0.3% lower, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) eased 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) jumped 0.7%, while the broader Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) slipped 0.1% owing to weakness in Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN) and SpaceX (SPCX) stock.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for SPY, QQQ and DIA was ‘bearish’ with ‘high’ message volumes.

US Market Drivers

Geopolitics once again took center stage in Tuesday’s trading session. While Iranian officials indicated that Tehran and Oman could be approaching a deal, it remains uncertain whether such an agreement will prompt a swift and total reopening of the strait.

While geopolitics continue to affect energy prices, investors are hoping the forthcoming inflation data will be as encouraging as the last report. Scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the July consumer price index is predicted to demonstrate a minor uptick in monthly inflation, with a 0.1% increase in the headline figure and a 0.2% gain in the core metric, based on economists surveyed by Dow Jones.

Energy prices currently remain at elevated levels and could continue to weigh on sentiment. The U.S. Energy Information Administration raised its crude oil and motor fuel price projections following Middle East supply constraints. 

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up about 5.1% at $82.13 per barrel, and the international benchmark Brent crude futures settled up 5% at $87.72. Oil stockpiles in the U.S. also dropped to the lowest level since January 1983.

“A resolution to the Middle East conflict could provide an additional boost to sentiment,” Jeffrey Roach at LPL Financial told Bloomberg in an interview. “One particularly encouraging observation from the report’s summary was the reminder that ‘the world has plenty of oil.’ Economic conditions are favorable for risk appetite.” 

Trending Stocks To Watch 

Oracle (ORCL): Enterprise software giant Oracle Corp. (ORCL) and quantum hardware maker Quantinuum (QNT) announced a strategic partnership on Tuesday to accelerate the commercial deployment of hybrid quantum-classical computing on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. 

Apple (AAPL): Apple’s longtime Pay and Wallet chief Jennifer Bailey is retiring after more than 25 years at the company, adding to a sweeping changing of the guard at the iPhone maker. 

Curaleaf Holdings (CURLF): The company unveiled a $4-per-share takeover proposal for Aurora Cannabis (ACB) on Tuesday, taking the offer directly to shareholders after Aurora’s board declined to engage in negotiations. 

Nvidia (NVDA): The company released its Nemotron 3.5 Lightning AI model while reportedly developing a much larger Nemotron 4 model that could put the chipmaker in more direct competition with some of its biggest customers. 

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.