Indexes end mixed as investors prepare for August inflation report

• US stock markets continued their moderate recovery, although the Dow Jones index fell.

• Investors are awaiting the consumer price report, which will be released on Wednesday.

• JPMorgan saw banking shares fall as earnings optimism cooled.

US stock markets ended mixed on Tuesday ahead of the release of the August Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday morning.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq technology indices recorded modest gains, while the Dow Jones fell more than 90 points.

All eyes this week are on last month’s consumer inflation report, which will be a key factor influencing interest rate policy ahead of the Federal Reserve’s meeting next week.

Most investors are expecting a 25-basis-point rate cut, but any shock in the inflation data could change that outlook in favor of a steeper cut. The odds of a 50-basis-point cut rose close to 60% after a weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls report for August, before changing again in favor of a smaller cut.

Producer price data released on Thursday will also impact the outlook for Fed rate cuts.

Ahead of each report’s release, Tuesday’s presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris could also impact markets.

Among Tuesday’s stock moves, JPMorgan led a sell-off in banks after the Wall Street giant issued a warning about future profits. The bank’s shares fell more than 5%. Shares of Ally Financial also fell 19% to close down more than 17% after its chief financial officer said the bank was seeing a deterioration in the financial health of its borrowers.

Here’s what the US indices looked like at the close of trading on Tuesday at 4:00:

Here’s what else happened today:

For commodities, bonds and cryptocurrencies:

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 3.84% to $66.08 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 3.27% to $69.49 a barrel.

• Gold gained 0.52% to $2,546.1 an ounce.

• The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell five basis points to 3.648%.

• Bitcoin rose 1.02% to $57,512.88

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