U.S. Inflation In Focus Amid Delayed Reports and Sky-High Goods Tariffs

Barry Adams
18 Dec, 2025
New York City

U.S. stocks lacked direction in early trading as investors avoided increasing exposure to stocks amid macroeconomic uncertainty and concerns about AI infrastructure investment. 

The S&P 500 index inched up 0.7%, and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite edged up 1.3%. 

Stocks on Wall Street are struggling to halt broader market decline over the last five trading sessions amid rising concerns about the durability of elevated levels of investment in AI technology infrastructure. 

The recent market weakness was exacerbated in Wednesday's trading after Oracle's primary investor withdrew its support from the $10 billion data center in Michigan. 

The Blue Owl Capital's withdrawal from Oracle's deal sent shudders through the AI landscape and dragged down stocks of AMD, Broadcom, Cisco, Nvidia, and other leading tech players. 

Investors positioned for the release of the consumer price index for November, as prices rose at a faster rate than the Fed's target rate of 2%. 

The consumer price index advanced by 2.7%, and the core rate, which excludes volatile and food prices, rose 2.6%, according to the preliminary estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

November's CPI report is the first inflation report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics since the ending of the government shutdown and is likely to confirm resurgent goods inflation driven by steep tariffs implemented by the Trump administration. 

The BLS canceled the October inflation report as the agency was unable to retroactively collect necessary data due to the federal government shutdown.

 

U.S. Movers 

Micron Technology soared 10.3% to $248.90 after the advanced chipmaker estimated a surge in revenue in the current quarter and delivered fiscal first-quarter results that surpassed market expectations. 

MillerKnoll Inc. surged 8.2% to $18.96 after the office furniture maker reported its fiscal second-quarter results and strong forecast for the current quarter.