Stock Market Today: Stocks End Lower Ahead of Major Inflation Update
Energy was the worst-performing sector as U.S. crude futures sold off on worries over slowing oil demand.


Broader markets bounced around Tuesday as investors waited for guidance from a pair of impending market catalysts: the latest inflation data and the start of second-quarter earnings season.
As for tomorrow morning's release of the June consumer price index (CPI), "it does seem that the market is pretty well prepared for a hot number at least from a headline perspective," says Michael Reinking, senior market strategist for the New York Stock Exchange. "Street estimates are calling for headline CPI to be up more than 1% on a monthly basis, with some calls that the year-over-year increase could be as high as 9%."
Reinking adds that a big driver of inflation will likely be oil prices, which peaked in the middle of the month and have moved sharply lower since. Indeed, U.S. crude futures plummeted 7.9% today to settle at $95.84 per barrel as China's latest round of COVID-related restrictions sparked concerns over slowing oil demand, and are now down more than 21% from their June peak above the $122 per-barrel mark.
Not surprisingly, energy (-2.0%) was the worst performing sector today, with APA (APA, -5.2%) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY, -3.6%) among the biggest decliners.
The weakness in energy stocks weighed on the broader S&P 500 Index (-0.9% at 3,818), while the Nasdaq Composite also finished lower (-1.0% at 11,264). The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, spent most of the day higher as blue chip Boeing (BA) jumped 7.4% on solid Q2 delivery data, but ended the day down 0.6% at 30,981.
Other news in the stock market today:
- The small-cap Russell 2000 gave back 0.2% to end at 1,728.
- Gold futures shed 0.4% to settle at $1,724.80 an ounce.
- The rout in Bitcoin continued, with the cryptocurrency falling 5.3% to $19,397.89. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
- Gap (GPS) fell 5.0% today after the retailer said CEO Sonjia Syngal is stepping down, effective immediately. The company also expects its adjusted operating margin percentage to be zero to slightly negative in the second quarter due to higher promotional activity. "While the macro is far from good today, the majority of these issues appear to be self-inflected and centered on Old Navy," says Wells Fargo analyst Ike Boruchow, who downgraded GPS stock to Equalweight from Overweight (the equivalents of Hold and Buy, respectively. "As such, as we remain cautious on our space. We simply cannot continue to recommend a name that is juggling company specific challenges on top of growing macro pressure."
- American Airlines Group (AAL) soared 10% after the air carrier said it is guiding for a pretax profit of $585 million in its second quarter. The news created a halo effect for other travel stocks, with Delta Air Lines (DAL, +6.2%) and United Airlines Holdings (UAL, +8.1%) among those gaining ground.
Don't Give Up on Consumer Discretionary Stocks
Higher inflation will likely continue to weigh on how consumers are feeling about the economy – as well as their willingness to open their wallets. While the latest credit and debit card spending data from BofA Data Analytics shows that total retail spending, excluding auto, was up 25% in June over the same period in 2019, it also revealed that most of this rise was due to higher prices. In fact, all categories they track outside of jewelry were down on a month-to-month basis.
This, of course, is creating headwinds for many consumer-facing companies, which are only being compounded by dwindling COVID-related stimulus, rising input costs and worker shortages, says Wells Fargo Advisors analyst Brian Postol.
But not all hope is lost, and Postol believes "blue skies are faintly appearing in the distance, and brighter days will return." The analyst sees demand building across many pockets of the consumer discretionary sector, including automotive retail and e-commerce.
And with the sector down more than 30% so far in 2022, investors have plenty of opportunity to find some solid consumer discretionary plays at a bargain. Read on as we explore the best consumer discretionary stocks to buy for the rest of 2022.
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
Extended payment plans can help ease the sting of a big-ticket purchase. But beware of costly missteps that can add to your price.
Don't Make These 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Mistakes
-
This 1031 Exchange Strategy Can Triple Your Cash Flow
Savvy investors can use 1031 exchanges to unlock value by moving capital across markets in a play called geographic arbitrage. These tax implications can make or break the strategy.
-
Stocks Retreat as Shutdown Continues: Stock Market Today
While the main indexes closed lower today, Delta and PepsiCo gained ground on encouraging earnings reports.
-
S&P 500 Hits New Highs as Rally Resumes: Stock Market Today
Tech stocks were the biggest gainers on Wall Street today, with Nvidia and Dell making notable moves.
-
Rally Fades on Mixed AI Revolution News: Stock Market Today
All three main U.S. equity indexes opened higher but closed lower as a seven-session winning streak for the S&P 500 came to an end.
-
S&P, Nasdaq Hit New Highs: Stock Market Today
A late-day rally wasn't enough to lift the Dow into the green as its six-session winning streak came to an end.
-
Dow Adds 238 Points as UNH, CAT Pop: Stock Market Today
The lack of a September jobs report didn't seem to worry market participants, with the data delayed due to the ongoing government shutdown.
-
Stocks at New Highs as Shutdown Drags On: Stock Market Today
The Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average all notched new record closes Thursday as tech stocks gained.
-
S&P 500 Sees New Highs on Shutdown Day: Stock Market Today
Most of its components were in the red, but the S&P 500 Index still managed to hit a new intraday all-time high.
-
Stocks Close September on a High Note: Stock Market Today
A little bit of late risk-on behavior was enough to lift stocks into the green on the last day of September.