Wall Street drifted lower ahead of Wednesday's inflation report, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.08%, the S&P 500 off 0.12%, and the Nasdaq Composite falling 0.32%. Alphabet and Amazon each dropped 2.2%, together accounting for nearly the entire Nasdaq decline, while the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF rose 0.31%, indicating most stocks actually gained. Oil prices edged higher after Iran reiterated the Strait of Hormuz would remain shut until sanctions relief and compensation are met, and President Trump demanded 50 years of reparations, pushing West Texas Intermediate crude up about 1.4% past $83 per barrel. In the memory chip sector, Micron Technology's chief business officer said the memory shortage will extend well past 2027, but the stock slipped 0.8% while SK Hynix jumped 2.6% amid reports Nvidia may use less high-bandwidth memory in a new chip design. The market's focus remains on the Consumer Price Index report, with forecasters expecting headline inflation near 3.4%, down from 3.5% in June.
