US close: Stocks mixed ahead of CPI reading

dl nyse new york stock exchange wall st street city finance dow jones nasdaq sp finance dollar dollars us usa united states of america 2 — New York Stock ExchangeSharecast photo / Josh White

Major indices delivered a mixed performance on Tuesday as traders looked ahead to tomorrow's consumer price index reading.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.29% at 33,684.79, while the S&P 500 was flat at 4,108.94 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.43% weaker at 12,031.88.

The Dow closed 98.27 points higher on Tuesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as market participants returned from the Easter Break in a more positive mood.

Investors seemed to be holding out for March's consumer and producer price indexes, due out on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, with both inflation metrics likely to provide markets with further insight into what the Federal Reserve may look to do with its rate-hiking campaign going forward.

On the macro front for Tuesday, the National Federation of Independent Business' small business optimism index edged to a three-month low of 90.1 in March, down from 90.9 in February to mark the 15th straight month the index has sat below its 49-year average of 98.

The coming US earnings seasons was also drawing an amount of investor attention, with a number of major American banks set to publish their latest quarterly results, the first since traders zeroed-in on the banking sector last month following multiple crises.

Oil futures were also in focus, with West Texas Intermediate futures 0.13% lower at $81.42 per barrel and Brent crude changing hands at $85.61 per barrel, up 1.70% on the session.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Tuesday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $220.60 2.35%
3M Co. (MMM) $104.56 1.75%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $123.32 1.14%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $520.67 1.12%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $293.34 0.89%
Visa Inc. (V) $228.46 0.89%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $327.37 0.74%
Boeing Co. (BA) $212.14 0.73%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $56.19 0.68%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $36.31 0.58%