Investing.com -- U.S. stocks mostly ended the day higher Tuesday, bouncing after widespread selling in technology shares at the start of the week.
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 300 points, or 0.76%, while S&P 500 climbed 21 points, or 0.4% and NASDAQ Composite rose 221 points, or 1.26%.
Wall Street recovers after Nvidia losses
The tech sector is set to show a recovery Tuesday after being hit hard during the previous session, with the Nasdaq dropping 1.1%, its worst day since April, as investors collected profits following a stellar rally over the past few months.
AI darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock gained 6.8% Tuesday, bouncing after having fallen almost 7% and tumbling for a third straight session after it briefly became the most valuable company on Wall Street last week.
“Nvidia’s correction shouldn’t be mistaken as a warning signal on either the structural investment case for AI or the broader equity outlook,” UBS strategists said in a note Tuesday.
PCE inflation awaited
Focus this week was squarely on PCE price index data, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
The reading is due on Friday and is expected to show some mild cooling in inflation, but it is also expected to remain well above the Fed’s 2% annual target range.
UBS expects the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates in September.
While there has been unusual volatility in economic data since the start of the pandemic, certain trends now appear to be well established, UBS said.
The labor market, which was severely overheated two years ago, has returned to near pre-pandemic conditions, supported by a strong increase in labor supply.
Moreover, retail sales and inflation are also showing signs of moderation.
In May, core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by just 0.16% month-over-month, marking the smallest increase since August 2021.
Although the year-over-year core inflation rate is trending lower, it remains considerably above its pre-pandemic levels.
“We maintain our base case that the Fed will be in a position to cut rates in September as it receives softer data on growth, the labor market, and inflation,” they said. “We see risks as skewed toward the Fed staying on hold for longer than in our base case, but we still see additional rate hikes as unlikely.”
FedEx earnings due
In the corporate sector, quarterly earnings are due from FedEx (NYSE:FDX) after the close.
Elsewhere, footwear maker Birkenstock (NYSE:BIRK) slid 4.1% after it said a top shareholder plans to offload 14 million shares in a public offering.
SolarEdge Technologies (NASDAQ:SEDG) fell 20.6% after it announced plans to offer $300 million in new debt.
Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) stock rose 3.3% after the drugmaker’s blockbuster Wegovy weight-loss treatment received approval from regulators in China.
Spirit Aerosystems (NYSE:SPR) stock fell almost 4% following a Bloomberg report indicating Boeing (NYSE:BA) has offered to acquire the airplane fuselage maker in a deal funded mostly by stock that values its key supplier at about $35 per share.
Crude lower ahead of API inventories
Crude prices drifted lower Tuesday ahead of the release of the latest information regarding U.S. crude inventories during the summer driving season.
By 15:45 ET, the U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1.03% lower at $80.79 per barrel, while the Brent contract dropped 1.08% to $84.22 per barrel.
Both benchmarks rose about 3% last week, marking two straight weeks of gains, boosted by increased demand as the U.S., the world's biggest oil consumer, enters the peak summer consumption period.
The American Petroleum Institute is set to release its forecast of U.S. crude oil stockpiles later in the session, ahead of the official report on Wednesday, and stocks are expected to have declined in the week to June 21.
(Ambar Warrick and Peter Nurse contributed to this article.)