15-07-2025
U.S. stocks close mixed after June CPI report
NEW YORK, July 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Tuesday as investors digested fresh inflation data and a wave of earnings reports from major financial institutions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 436.36 points, or 0.98 percent, to close at 44,023.29. The S&P 500 fell 24.8 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,243.76. In contrast, the Nasdaq Composite rose 37.47 points, or 0.18 percent, to 20,677.8, marking a new all-time closing high.
Ten of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors closed in the red. Materials and health care were the biggest decliners, falling 2.11 percent and 1.88 percent, respectively. Technology was the only sector to finish higher, gaining 1.27 percent.
June's inflation data, released Tuesday, showed consumer prices rising 0.3 percent for the month, in line with expectations and up from May's pace. The annual CPI rate stood at 2.7 percent. Core CPI, which strips out food and energy, climbed 0.2 percent from the previous month and 2.9 percent year over year, both matching analysts' forecasts.
Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital, said it was a relief to see Tuesday's CPI report come in line with expectations, but "it's highly likely that a tariff-driven inflation reckoning is coming."
"The latest U.S. inflation report practically confirmed that President Trump's tariffs acted to push up consumer prices in June," said Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy at global financial services firm Ebuy.
On the earnings front, several major banks delivered underwhelming results. Wells Fargo beat profit expectations but issued lower guidance for net interest income, pushing its shares down more than 5 percent. JPMorgan Chase also posted strong results but saw its shares slip. BlackRock dropped 5.88 percent after missing revenue estimates. Citigroup stood out, gaining 3.68 percent after beating second-quarter earnings expectations.
In the tech sector, Nvidia surged 4.04 percent after announcing it would resume shipments of its H20 AI chips to China, following White House assurances that current export restrictions would be eased. The news sparked a rally in semiconductor stocks. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose 6.41 percent, Arm Holdings and Broadcom each added less than 2 percent, and the iShares Semiconductor ETF climbed 1 percent.
Among other mega-cap tech names, Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon posted modest advances. Tesla declined 1.93 percent, and Meta Platforms lost 1.46 percent.
