US stock futures turned higher on Tuesday as a milder inflation reading kept bets that the Fed would hold rates steady intact, while JPMorgan (JPM) results kicked off the fourth quarter earnings season.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) pared losses and floated above the flat line, while those on the S&P 500 (ES=F) added 0.2%. Contracts on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) rose 0.3%. On Monday, Wall Street stocks eked out fresh record closes as investors largely shrugged off concerns around a US criminal probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

JPMorgan Chase led out this week's rush of big bank results, posting a quarterly earnings miss amid a $2.2 billion hit to net income from a Apple Card deal. Shares in America's biggest bank were a touch higher after the report. With earnings season now unofficially underway, Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), and Morgan Stanley (MS) follow with their own results in coming days.

Markets are now evaluating the latest reading on US consumer inflation, a key input into the Fed's rate-setting decisions. The December consumer price index is viewed as offering the clearest picture of trends in months after the record government shutdown disrupted data reports.

The CPI report showed inflation pressures remained steady last month, with an annual headline rate of 2.7% and a monthly rate of 0.3%, which were in line with forecasts.

The data takes on added importance after the December jobs report pointed to a cooling labor market. Going into the inflation report, traders saw a 95% chance that the Fed holds rates steady in January, and were pricing in June for the first of two quarter-point cuts in 2026, per the CME FedWatch Tool.

Meanwhile, global central bankers have joined the likes of Janet Yellen and Alan Greenspan in rushing to condemn the Justice Department's investigation of Powell, seen as a threat to the Fed's autonomy. Powell, whose term as Fed chair expires in May, characterized the probe as political pressure from President Trump, who has repeatedly called for aggressive interest-rate cuts.

On another front, Trump said late Monday that countries that continue to do business with Iran will face a 25% US tariff. The vow adds another layer of geopolitical uncertainty to a market already grappling with moves on Venezuela and Greenland, and could threaten the US trade truce with China.

Inflation pressures slowed in the final month of 2025 as consumer prices rose by less than economists forecast.

Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland reports:

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Tuesday morning showed headline consumer prices rose 0.3% over the prior month and 2.7% over the prior year. Economists were expecting a 0.3% monthly increase and a 2.7% rise over the prior year, according to estimates from Bloomberg.

On a \\"core\\" basis — which includes the more volatile categories of food and energy, consumer prices rose 0.2% over last month and 2.6% over last year, according to the CPI. Economists were looking for increases of 0.3% and 2.7% on a monthly and annual basis.

Inflation has remained stubbornly above the Federal Reserve's 2% target for some time. It has drifted downward over the past year, however, and has been characterized by policymakers as a less acute risk to the economy than a dramatic softening of the labor market.

Read more here.

Here's what JPMorgan (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said about the Trump vs. Powell battle on a call I was just on:

\\"First, I just want to say that I don't agree with everything that the Fed has done. I do have enormous respect for Jay Powell, the man. Everyone we know believes in Fed independence, and so do we. And anything that chips away at that is probably not a great idea. And in my view, it will have the reverse consequences. It will raise inflation expectations and probably increase rates over time.\\"

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is done playing nice, writes Yahoo Finance's Hamza Shaban.

Hamza reports:

After months of seeking to avoid confrontation with the president, even after the White House heightened its pressure campaign to oust him and exert more influence over the central bank, Powell has finally punched back.

And it would be hard to blame him. The Justice Department has initiated a criminal probe of the Fed chair into whether he lied to Congress, throwing the weight of the federal government against a public servant that the president seeks to oust.

... For Powell, the threat of criminal charges is a \\"pretext\\" to go after the independence of the Fed. Appeasement towards Trump has failed. So what happens next? We have some questions.

Is this escalation a bigger change for Powell or Trump?

The Trump administration's approach has clearly changed.

Instead of merely criticizing Powell and wish-casting (with the power and influence of the bully pulpit) for the Fed chair to step down, prosecutors are now threatening criminal charges. But just as important is Powell's new battle posture.

... It's not just his communication style that has suddenly changed. Powell might have thought to step away from the Federal Reserve after his term as chair ends in May, even if his term as governor doesn't expire until 2028.

Read other questions and insight here, in the takeaway from today's Morning Brief.

BNY (BNY) CEO Robin Vince commented on concerns about Federal Reserve independence from the DOJ's Powell probe, speaking on a reporter call I was just on post-earnings:

“Independent central banks with the ability to independently set monetary policy in the long-term interest of the nation is a pretty well established thing that we've seen all around the world over a very long period of time, and it's served economies and capital markets really well.

\\"So we see the bond market has been underpinned by a bunch of different things. The US bond market is really the most important market, arguably, in the world — [Treasury] Secretary Bessent said that on several occasions. If you look at the things that underpin the US bond market, that independence is one of those things.

\\"Shaking the foundation of it doesn't seem to be to us to be accomplishing the [Trump] administration's primary objective, because the administration greatly is very focused on things like affordability and being able to reduce the cost of borrowing, reducing the cost of mortgages, reducing the cost of everyday living for Americans, and being able to make sure that they're driving up wages.

\\"Sort of questioning one of the tenets that underlies the bond market runs the risk of actually doing the opposite of that — and actually pushing up interest rates because the market potentially has to worry about something that, frankly, they shouldn't have to worry about.\\"

US investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) posted fourth-quarter results on Tuesday that beat revenue estimates but missed earnings expectations, as net income was hit following its deal to take over the Apple Card (AAPL) from Goldman Sachs (GS).

Yahoo Finance senior reporter David Hollerith looks at the latest earnings release from JPM.

Net income for the firm came in at $13 billion, including the $2.2 billion in credit losses it planned for as a result of the deal. Excluding these costs, JPMorgan said its net income would've tallied $14.7 billion in the quarter.

Earnings per share, excluding these costs, came in at $5.23, higher than the $4.85 that Wall Street was expecting. Including costs from its Apple Card deal, JPMorgan reported earnings per share of $4.63 in the quarter.

JPMorgan stock rose about 1% following the release.

In a statement, CEO Jamie Dimon said the US economy has been \\"resilient,\\" adding that, \\"consumers continue to spend, and businesses generally remain healthy.\\"

Dimon cautioned, however, that, \\"markets seem to underappreciate the potential hazards—including from complex geopolitical conditions, the risk of sticky inflation and elevated asset prices.\\"

Read more here.

Shares in L3Harris Technologies (LHX) surged before the bell on news the US government will invest $1 billion in its rocket motor business.

The move guarantees a steady supply of the much-needed motors used in a wide range of ​missiles such as Tomahawks and Patriot interceptors.

Reuters reports:

The deal represents the latest U.S. government investment in Corporate America, which ‌has included a 10% stake in chip maker Intel (INTC) and investments in critical mineral producers. It comes just a few days after President ‌Donald Trump blasted defense contractors for slow production of weaponry.

L3Harris said on Tuesday it will spin off its rocket motor business into a new publicly traded company backed by a $1 billion government convertible security investment. The securities will automatically convert to common equity when the company goes public later in 2026.

The investment in a defense contractor is not ⁠a total surprise after U.S. Commerce Secretary ‌Howard Lutnick last August said the Trump administration was weighing equity stakes in major defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin .

Read more here.

Delta Airlines' (DAL) stock sank as much as 5% before the bell on Tuesday despite posting upbeat Q4 results, as its forecast fell below estimates.

The airline company said growth in the premium business and lack of certain headwinds would propel its business forward in 2026.

Yahoo Finance senior reporter Pras Subramanian delves into the latest results from Delta.

For the quarter, Delta posted record adjusted revenue of $14.61 billion against estimates for $14.67 billion, per Bloomberg consensus. The results were up 1.2% compared to a year ago, which was outside of the airline’s own 2% guidance due to the impact of the government shutdown.

Delta’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.55, versus the $1.53 expected. The company's earnings took a $0.25 hit from the government shutdown as well.

Looking ahead, Delta is projecting revenue in Q1 to grow by 5% to 7%, with operating margin in the 4.5% to 6% range and adjusted EPS of $0.50 to $0.90. For the year, Delta sees adjusted EPS of $6.50 to $7.50, representing a whopping 20% year-over-year jump at the midpoint, with free cash flow in the range of $3 billion to $4 billion.

Read more here.

Intel (INTC) stock rose 3% before the bell on Tuesday. KeyBanc analysts raised their rating on the chipmaker to Overweight from Sector Weight due to strong demand for their central processing units.

Revvity (RVTY) stock climbed 5% during premarket trading on Tuesday after the health company raised its full-year outlook ahead of its earnings release in February.

MP Materials (MP) stock edged higher on Tuesday by 3%. The rare earths company was awarded funding from the US government for a $900 million manufacturing facility last year, and experts believe companies like MP could get a boost from the US's latest move in Venezuela.

Investors are expecting a low-volatility earnings season, given softer option volumes over the past two weeks and balanced positioning, according to a Jan. 8 note on tactical earnings trades from the Goldman Sachs Investment Research team.

The analysts estimated the average implied earnings day stock move — how much the market expects a stock to swing following corporate results, based on options data — is 4.5% in either direction, below the long-term average.

\\"With less fear priced in, it is more difficult to see relief rallies on earnings days,\\" they wrote.

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Still, the Goldman Sachs team noted that having exposure to stocks through their earnings events remains important for fundamental investors. Just two quarters ago, the actual moves on earnings days for individual stocks were at their highest level since 2009.

Where the team does expect more volatility is in utility, healthcare, materials, and industrial stocks, which \\"have been making the most unusually large moves on earnings-day in recent quarters.\\"

Get the latest here on Q4 earnings season in Yahoo Finance's live blog.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December is set for release Tuesday morning, with the data expected to show inflation pressures remained steady in the final month of 2025.

Yahoo Finance's Myles Udland takes a look at what to expect and what to watch:

On a headline basis, consumer prices are expected to have risen 0.3% over the prior month and 2.7% from the prior year in December, according to data from Bloomberg. The annual mark would be unchanged from November's cooler-than-expected reading.

\\"Core\\" CPI, which excludes the more volatile categories of food and energy, is expected to show prices rose 0.3% over the past month and 2.7% over the past year. The annual number would mark a slight uptick from November.

... While Tuesday's report will mark the first inflation reading published on its usual cadence after the US government shutdown altered releases for September and November — resulting in the cancellation of October's report — some on Wall Street still expect echoes of that period to show up in the data.

\\"As a result of the shutdown not allowing for the collection of October data, the BLS used carry-forward imputation to help formulate the November estimates,\\" Bank of America's US economics team, led by Stephen Juneau, wrote in a note on Monday.

The BoA team added: \\"One area where this was used is in cities that are sampled in even months where they carried-forward August prices into October. We expect this to bias the December measure higher as the data collected in December will be comparing December prices to August instead of October.\\"

As a result, the firm expects headline CPI to rise 0.4% over the prior month, more than Wall Street estimates.

Read more here.

Gold (GC=F) steadied close to another record on Tuesday, as investors focused on the latest attacks on the Federal Reserve by the Trump administration, which have raised some concerns over the Fed's independence.

Bloomberg News reports:

Bullion traded at about $4,596 an ounce after jumping 2% in the previous session as Powell said the potential indictment was a continuation of attempts to pressure the central bank. The latest attack on the Fed revived the “sell America” trade, with the dollar dropping on Monday and Treasuries selling off across the curve.

President Donald Trump’s aggressive calls for lower interest rates have threatened to undermine the Fed’s ability to control inflation and contributed to the so-called debasement trade, where investors sell the dollar and other assets vulnerable to political and fiscal shocks. The Department of Justice probe into Powell prompted lawmakers from the president’s own Republican party and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to warn Trump the move could be bad for markets.

Read more here.

Reuters reports:

Nvidia (NVDA) does not require upfront payment for H200 chips, a ​spokesperson for the U.S. chipmaker said in ‌a statement to Reuters on Tuesday.

The company said it \\"would ‌never require customers to pay for products they do not receive\\", in a response to a Reuters story on January 8 about the company ⁠having imposed unusually ‌stringent terms requiring full upfront payment from Chinese customers seeking its artificial intelligence ‍chips.

One source told Reuters that Nvidia's standard terms for Chinese clients have previously included advance payment requirements, ​but they were sometimes allowed to place ‌a deposit rather than make a full payment upfront.

Read more here.

Bloomberg reports:

BlackRock Inc. (BLK) is cutting hundreds of jobs across the company, becoming the latest Wall Street firm to rein in headcount in recent weeks.

The cuts total about 1% of BlackRock’s global headcount, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The reductions amount to about 250 employees firmwide and include members of its investment and sales teams, the people said.

“Improving BlackRock is a constant priority,” a company spokesperson said. “Each year, we make decisions to ensure that our resources are aligned with our objectives and that we are well positioned to serve clients today and in the future.”

The cuts come as Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink works to re-wire the world’s largest asset manager and push deeper into alternative investments. Since closing its $12 billion acquisition of private credit specialist HPS Investment Partners in July, BlackRock has been integrating its new executives and preparing to unveil a new range of funds for wealthy retail investors.

Read more here.