Major Wall Street indexes closed slightly higher on Tuesday despite early volatility at the start of the trading session.
The Dow Jones closed at 33,704.1, gaining 186.45 points or 0.56 percent. The S&P 500 concluded the session at 3,919.25, increasing by 27.16 points or 0.70 percent. Meanwhile, the NASDAQ Composite closed at 10,742.63, rising 106.98 points or 1.01 percent.
Despite ending the trading session higher, the S&P index was still significantly below the intraday high on Monday, noted as the benchmark's highest point since mid-December. The index shifted between red and green in the morning.
Meanwhile, Europe's STOXX 600 index fell by 0.59 percent while MSCI's — which measures stocks in many countries — rose by 0.30 percent. At the same time, stocks in emerging economies gained 0.05 percent.
The U.S. dollar also rose only slightly against other major currencies, nearing its lowest level in seven months. The dollar index — which tracks the greenback's standing against several other major currencies — rose by 0.107 percent.
The yen dropped by 0.26 percent to trade at 132.21 per dollar, despite a prediction that the Bank of Japan may implement a monetary tightening cycle soon. On the other hand, the euro gained by 0.06 percent over the greenback to $1.0734.
As investors prepared for the December consumer price index due on Thursday, the U.S. Treasury yields rose. The two-year notes went up by 4.4 basis points to yield 4.2431 percent. The 10-year notes rose by 9.2 basis points to yield 3.610 percent. Then the 30-year notes gained 8.9 basis points to yield 3.7387 percent.
Data also showed higher oil prices following the U.S. government's projection that global petroleum consumption would hit new highs. U.S. crude oil rose by 0.66 percent to trade at $75.12 a barrel. Meanwhile, Brent ended the trading session at $80.10 a barrel or rising by 0.56 percent.
The gold market also closed higher overall. Spot gold traded at $1,877.01 an ounce, gaining 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, U.S. gold futures rose by 0.29 percent to $1,878.10 an ounce.
Edward Jones senior investment strategist Mona Mahajan said the generally low growth in the market would likely continue in the coming days. Investors are now trying to gauge how the upcoming inflation data will influence the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.
"What you might have had coming into today was a market that was a bit on edge as to what Powell might say and then a minor sigh of relief when he said nothing,"
Eric Theoret, global macro strategist at Manulife
December CPI
Analysts expect the U.S. December CPI to be at 6.5 percent, lower than 7.1 percent in November.
December's job report released last week showed signs of cooling wage inflation, which reassured investors that inflation in the U.S. had peaked. Investors, however, grew wary after Fed chairman Jerome Powell's public appearance in Sweden on Tuesday. At that time, the chairman avoided discussing interest rate hikes.
Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Fed, suggested people pay attention to the CPI data. She added that depending on upcoming inflation data, the Fed might raise the interest rates by either 25 or 50 basis points.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic declared that his "base case" was no rate cuts in 2023 or even the following year, meaning Americans would endure high benchmark interest rates for an extended period.
The Fed uses interest rate hikes to combat high inflation rates that the U.S. has not seen in decades. With a target rate of two percent, analysts predict that the central bank will maintain its hawkish policy for a while.