Stocks on Wall Street were relatively flat Tuesday as investors and corporate America braced for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates by as much as three-quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday in a bid to slow soaring U.S. inflation rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average flitted up and down in early trading and the S&P 500 was little changed after slipping into bear market territory on Monday — a hangover from a worse-than-expected inflation report ahead of the weekend.
The Labor Department reported Tuesday the Producer Price Index, which gauges inflation before it hits consumers, surged 10.