A reading on US inflation for December came in as expected, leaving intact market expectations for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year.
US stocks ended lower on Tuesday, led by a drop in financial shares as comments from JPMorgan executives added to worries about US President Donald Trump's recent proposal for a cap on credit-card rates.
Helping to limit the day's declines, a report early in the day showed that a reading on US inflation for December came in as expected, leaving intact market expectations for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year.
Trump's proposed 10 per cent cap on credit-card interest rates would directly hurt financial companies' profits, and top JPMorgan executives including CEO Jamie Dimon warned that Trump's plan would also severely hurt consumers. That extended this week's selloff in financials over the proposal, which Trump made last Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 398.21 points, or 0.80 per cent, to 49,191.99, the S&P 500 lost 13.53 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 6,963.74 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 24.03 points, or 0.10 per cent, to 23,709.87.
Results from JPMorgan and other companies on Tuesday also unofficially kicked off the fourth-quarter US earnings season.
