By Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas
(Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to slide at open on Tuesday after a hotter-than-expected consumer inflation reading drove U.S. Treasury yields higher, smashing market speculations for imminent interest rate cuts.
A Labor Department report showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.1% on an annual basis in January, compared with the 2.9% increase expected by economists polled by Reuters. Excluding volatile food and energy components, the core figure rose 3.9% annually, versus the estimated 3.7% increase.
Rate-sensitive megacaps like Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Nvidia extended losses before the bell, down between 1.6% and 2.1%, as yields on U.S. Treasury notes across the board spiked to two-month highs. [US/]
Trader bets for an at least 25 basis point rate reduction in May dove to 33.7%, from about 58% before the data, the CME FedWatch tool showed.
"Tuesday's stronger-than-expected CPI print may cause the Fed to delay its rate cuts past May and June, which is when the market expects the Fed to begin cutting," said Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital.
"Getting to the Fed's magical 2% inflation target may prove more difficult than expected and result in elevated interest rates for a longer period of time."
The latest data comes on the heels of a modest revision to inflation in the last quarter of 2023 that left investors moderately relieved on the trajectory of inflation.
The Cboe volatility index, a market fear gauge, hit an over two-week high.
At 8:47 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 333 points, or 0.86%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 60.5 points, or 1.2%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 303.75 points, or 1.69%.
Wall Street has been on a rally, with the benchmark S&P 500 gaining in 14 out of the past 15 weeks, the first time since March 1972. The Dow is also trading at a record high level, and on Monday the Nasdaq briefly surpassed its record closing high from November 2021.
Hopes of imminent policy easing this year had kicked off the rally in November 2023, further boosted by signs of healthy corporate performance. Markets also continue to reward megacaps that have led the recent hype around artificial intelligence, as Nvidia briefly surpassed Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) in market value on Monday.
Investors are also cheering robust economic performance, where a Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) survey showed they have cut cash levels and boosted equity allocations as they no longer expect an economic recession for the first time since April 2022.
Among premarket movers, JetBlue Airways jumped 12.2% after activist investor Carl Icahn reported a 9.91% stake, adding that the carrier's stock is 'undervalued'.
Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) rose 1.2% as the beverage maker surpassed expectations for fourth-quarter revenue, benefiting from higher product prices and buoyant demand.
Arista Networks shed 8.3% after the cloud solutions provider forecast current-quarter adjusted gross margin below expectations.
Software firm Cadence Design (NASDAQ:CDNS) Systems dropped 7.1% following a bleak quarterly sales forecast, while toymaker Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) lost 6.0% after a steeper-than-expected drop in holiday-quarter sales and profit.
Tripadvisor jumped 12.0% as the online travel agency formed a special committee to evaluate proposals that may result in a deal.