Traders work on the floor of the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
S&P 500 futures fell on Tuesday as traders reacted to higher-than-expected October inflation and a key Federal Reserve official hinting at the possibility of a half-point rise in rates next month.
Futures tied to the broad market index traded down 0.5%, while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were around the flatline. Nasdaq-100 futures slipped 1.2%.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said in a speech Tuesday that he thinks a December rate hike is likely. He also opened the door for a larger half-point increase next month as inflationary pressures persist.
“While the precise timing of the hikes doesn’t matter, ensuring that the promised hikes are implemented in a reasonable period of time does,” he said.
Waller’s comments came ahead of the October consumer price index report, which came in hotter than expected. Headline CPI rose 0.4% last month, above the gain of 0.3% that economists polled by Dow Jones expected. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, increased 0.3% in October. Economists had called for a 0.2% advance on the month.
Annual figures were not be provided for Tuesday’s report because of the 2025 government shutdown.
Adding to the downbeat sentiment, investors moved away from technology stocks. Marvell Technology dropped 5%, while Intel and Micron Technology shed 3%. Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm lost more than 2%. Nvidia — which sat out Monday’s rally following CEO Jensen Huang’s admission over the weekend to an affair with an alleged Chinese spy — fell more than 1%.
The previous session saw the S&P 500 post its best day since April. Those moves came after a rocky week for markets, in which traders grew concerned about the potential for a slowdown in data center buildouts after Democrats posted big victories in the midterm elections.
Across the Atlantic, the pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.64% higher. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 0.26%, with France’s CAC 40 rising 0.88% and Germany’s DAX up 0.94%.
In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi surged 4.3%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 2.89%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.42%, and mainland China’s CSI 300 added 0.26%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.27%.
