Wall Street Sinks at Open as Inflation Runs Hotter Than Expected

Wall Street's opening bell brought red across the board Tuesday. The Dow Jones dropped 0.49%, a fall of 257 points, with Caterpillar sliding 5.29% by 9:31 am ET. The Nasdaq 100 gave up 1.13% at 9:30 am ET as SanDisk plunged 4.50%, while the S&P 500 tumbled 0.75%, with Skydance off 8.74% at 9:32 am ET.

The trigger was the consumer price report. Both baseline and core inflation for the month landed above what analysts had penciled in, stoking fresh worries about how the Federal Reserve responds. One Fed official said a December interest rate hike might be necessary.

The euro weakened against the dollar, trading 0.27% lower at 1.11923 by 9:29 am ET.

The retreat erases momentum from a strong start to the week. The Dow had rallied 1,104 points, or 2.15%, at Monday's close, with Caterpillar jumping 7.21%. The Nasdaq 100 popped 3.40%, helped by Monolithic Power Systems surging 16.60%.

Before Tuesday's open, indexes had been mixed as traders waited on the inflation print, along with the ADP weekly employment change data and the NFIB small business optimism report. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also scheduled to hold a press conference amid discussions about his possible impeachment.