US open: Stocks slightly lower ahead of Apple product event

(Sharecast News) - Wall Street's main market indices were slightly in the red on Tuesday, as investors showed caution ahead of a pivotal product event for Apple scheduled for later on the day and key inflation data due out during the next session. As of 1513 BST, the Dow Jones Industrials was drifting lower by 0.18% to 34,594.81, while the S&P 500 was off by 0.22% at 4,478.13.

The Nasdaq Composite meanwhile was down by 0.08% to 13,907.10.

Front-dated West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were advancing 1.5% to $88.77 a barrel on the NYMEX.

The US consumer price index was due out on Wednesday and expected to show that prices rose 0.5% in August after a 0.2% gain in July, though core inflation was expected to have held stable at 0.2% month-on-month.

According to the economic advisory committee of the American Bankers Association, the Federal Reserve's job in its latest rate-rising cycle was now over, with GDP growth expected to ease to just 1.2% next year, from 2% in 2023.

"Shifting rate expectations over recent weeks have added greater uncertainty for markets, and this rumour of an impending pause does help lift sentiment as market pricing adjusts accordingly," said Joshua Mahony from Scope Markets.

The National Federation of Independent Business reported on Tuesday that its index of small business sentiment edged down in August to 91.3 from 91.9 during the previous month (consensus: 91.5).

Commenting on the results of the NFIB survey, economists at Oxford Economics said: "the details of the August NFIB survey suggest the economy is continuing to expand at a gradual pace, though the rebound in selling price intentions points to inflation rebounding back to 4% over the coming months.

"That shouldn't worry the Fed unduly, with the labor market details still pointing to a gradual easing in wage and underlying price inflation ahead."

Tech stocks in focus

All eyes were on Apple ahead of its closely watched Wonderlust event on Tuesday amid reports of a possible launch of a new iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9. There could be updates to the iPad and the VisionPro headset.

Tesla shares were again on the up, adding to a 10% jump on Monday following a Morgan Stanley upgrade to 'overweight'.

The bank said that Dojo, the carmaker's custom supercomputing product that's been in the works for the past five years, could add "up to $500bn" to Tesla's enterprise value. It hiked its target price for the stock from $250 to $400.

Tech investors were perhaps also treading water ahead of ARM's blockbuster listing on the NYSE on Wednesday. The UK chip group's $50bn+ IPO is already said to be 10 times oversubscribed.

WestRock was rising 6% on the news that it was to merge with paper and packaging peer Smurfit Kappa, creating a business with combined revenues of $34bn and a 20% market share in Europe and North America.

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $39.88 3.34% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $21.97 2.50% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $84.00 1.80% Chevron Corp. (CVX) $165.93 1.33% Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $283.54 0.53% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $325.99 0.41% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $145.01 0.38% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $53.88 0.38% American Express Co. (AXP) $158.20 0.23% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $161.18 0.03%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $258.77 -1.13% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $474.02 -1.12% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $146.91 -0.99% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $153.34 -0.91% Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $107.79 -0.75% Apple Inc. (AAPL) $178.03 -0.74% Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $335.44 -0.74% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $58.51 -0.62% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $224.27 -0.46% Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $161.99 -0.41%

S&P 500 - Risers

Westrock Company (WRK) $35.96 5.58% Zions Bancorporation (ZION) $36.52 5.15% Borg Warner Inc. (BWA) $41.58 3.51% Intel Corp. (INTC) $39.88 3.34% Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $0.67 3.09% CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.40 2.55% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $21.97 2.50% Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $509.84 2.41% Ford Motor Co. (F) $12.51 2.37% Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $63.33 2.27%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $110.54 -12.76% Advance Auto Parts (AAP) $60.12 -3.87% RTX Corporation (RTX) $74.05 -3.71% American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $175.50 -2.65% United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) $156.71 -2.60% Comerica Inc. (CMA) $45.16 -2.50% Crown Castle International (CCI) $96.21 -2.35% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $151.15 -2.33% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $328.22 -2.08% Public Storage (PSA) $271.22 -1.94%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.65 5.78% Intel Corp. (INTC) $39.88 3.34% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $21.97 2.50% Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $509.84 2.41% Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $63.33 2.27% QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $112.56 2.07% Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $71.43 1.99% Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $140.47 1.69% Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $9.66 1.63% Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $96.71 1.46%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $151.15 -2.33% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $328.22 -2.08% Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,403.19 -1.39% Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $557.71 -1.20% Asml Holdings N.V. (ASML) $620.52 -1.15% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $258.77 -1.13% Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $304.67 -0.94% Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $241.04 -0.90% Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $216.86 -0.86% T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $139.12 -0.81%