NEW YORK, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended lower on Tuesday, as investors exercised caution ahead of a pivotal consumer inflation report set to shape expectations for future Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 154.10 points, or 0.35 percent, to 44,247.83. The S&P 500 sank 17.94 points, or 0.30 percent, to 6,034.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 49.45 points, or 0.25 percent, to 19,687.24.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with real estate and technology leading the laggards by losing 1.63 percent and 1.26 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services and consumer staples led the gainers by going up 2.61 percent and 0.50 percent, respectively.
Paul Hickey of Bespoke Investment Group noted an "extreme" short-term divergence among sectors in the past five days, despite the major U.S. indexes generally moving in sync.
"Recently, the disparity between index and sector performance has become extremely disjointed," Hickey wrote. "Through yesterday's close, the S&P 500 was up 0.1 percent in the trailing five trading days, but eight out of eleven sectors were down over 1 percent. That's practically unheard of."
In corporate news, shares of Alphabet, Google's parent company, climbed 5.59 percent after the tech giant revealed a breakthrough in quantum computing with its new chip, Willow, unveiled on Monday. The announcement highlighted Google's progress in this emerging field as it seeks to compete with other major players.
Walgreens Boots Alliance surged 17.74 percent following a report from The Wall Street Journal that Sycamore Partners, a private-equity firm, is in talks to acquire the pharmacy chain. Despite the jump, Walgreens shares remain significantly down for the year, reflecting challenges from declining foot traffic as more consumers shift to online shopping.
In the bond market, the U.S. Treasury yields edged higher as traders awaited the consumer price index (CPI) release on Wednesday, which could significantly influence monetary policy ahead of next week's Fed meeting.
The market continues to anticipate a potential 25-basis-point rate cut at the upcoming meeting, with expectations bolstered by last Friday's jobs report, which showed an uptick in unemployment to 4.2 percent. ■