Stocks drifted to a lower close Tuesday as Wall Street waited for highly anticipated reports later this week about inflation and the economy. The S&P 500 fell 25.56 points, or 0.6%, to 4,461.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 17.73 points, or 0.1%, to 34,645.99. The Nasdaq composite fell 144.28 points, or 1%, to 13,773.61. Software giant Oracle weighed on tech stocks after reporting revenue for the latest quarter that fell just short of what analysts expected. Its stock tumbled 14%, even though its profit topped expectations, the AP reports.
Oracle's forecast for how much revenue it will make in the current quarter wasn't as strong as some analysts expected, even as it touts customers signing up for services because of the boom around artificial-intelligence technology. Apple was 1.7% lower after it unveiled its latest phone models and other devices. The stock soared through much of this year, which is crucial for many investors because it's the most valuable company on Wall Street and has more sway on the S&P 500 than others. But it's been struggling since the end of July and has reported three straight quarters where its revenue fell from year-earlier levels.
Alphabet, meanwhile, fell 1.2% as an antitrust trial against Google opened in federal court. It's the biggest such trial since regulators took Microsoft to court in 1998. The US government is accusing Google of abusing its position as the world's dominant search engine and forcing consumers to settle for inferior search results. On the winning side of Wall Street, stocks of oil producers rose with the price of crude. Exxon Mobil rose 2.9% and was the single strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500. Occidental Petroleum gained 4.1%. Oil prices have been climbing since the end of June after mostly falling for a year. On Tuesday, a barrel of US crude rose 1.9% to $88.94, while Brent crude, the international standard, added 1.6% to $92.06 per barrel. (More stock market stories.)
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