Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Falling Ahead of CPI inflation Report; Nvidia, Oracle, Palantir, More Movers; Trump, Harris Debate Fallout

The main event for markets will be the release of the consumer price index. Easing inflation in line with expectations would likely lock in expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates with a quarter-point reduction.

For live coverage and analysis of the CPI report, click here.

U.S. stock futures were pointing to losses at the open as traders await the release of inflation data and digest the debate between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 158 points, or 0.4%. S&P 500 futures were falling 0.3% and Nasdaq futures were dropping 0.4%.

The main event for markets will be the release of the consumer price index. Economists surveyed by FactSet expect that the price of consumer goods and services rose by 2.6% in August on a year-over-year basis. That would compare with a 2.9% increase in July, and mark the lowest CPI print since early 2021.

Easing inflation in line with expectations would likely lock in expectations for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates with a quarter-point reduction. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note stood at 3.618% early on Wednesday, ticking down from the previous day.

Meanwhile, markets were also digesting the Harris-Trump debate held late on Tuesday.

“Markets seem to have awarded Harris a victory on points… In FX [foreign exchange], a Trump win is associated with a stronger dollar, which is trading on the soft side across the board,” wrote ING analyst Francesco Pesole in a research note.