Stocks fell on Tuesday after a report indicated US wholesale prices rose at a record pace last month, increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to bring its bond purchase programme to an end.
Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 closed 0.7 per cent lower, led by a 6.6 per cent drop in the shares of Adobe, the creative software maker. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite fell 1.1 per cent. Microsoft shares, which fell 3.3 per cent on the day, contributed to the dip in both indices.
US producer prices rose 9.6 per cent in November from the same month the previous year, the biggest rise on records going back to 2010 and a sharp uptick from 8.8 per cent the previous month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected prices to advance at a 9.2 per cent rate in November.