Wall Street stocks were little changed early Tuesday as markets digested surprisingly strong US economic data that could change the calculus on upcoming monetary policy decisions.
US gross domestic product in the third quarter came in at 4.3 percent on an annualized basis, easily topping expectations and the loftiest growth in two years.
But the report, which also revealed accelerating inflation, shows “the US economy was certainly running on the warm side in Q3,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, adding that the data will “stir some concerns” about recent Fed interest rate cuts.
About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1 percent at 48,323.52.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 percent at 6,882.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also gained 0.1 percent to 23,444.24.
Major US indices finished solidly higher on Monday as markets eye a light news week after Tuesday, with exchanges closing early Wednesday and all of Thursday for the Christmas holiday.
