Wall Street traded timidly on Tuesday despite another benign inflation report that reinforced expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts later this year, as a weaker-than-expected start to the earnings season kept investors cautious.

The Consumer Price Index rose 2.7% year over year in December, matching both the prior reading and economist estimates. Notably, core CPI came in at 2.6% year over year, slightly below expectations.

Supply concerns continued to push silver higher, with the grey metal jumping 4.5% to $89 an ounce, already up 22% since the start of the year in less than two weeks.

The S&P 500 flattened at 6,970 by midday trading in New York, remaining within striking distance of the record high of 6,986 hit a day earlier.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% as financial stocks weighed on the blue-chip index. Tech stocks in the Nasdaq 100 edged up 0.1%, lifted by strength in semiconductors. The Russell 2000 gained 0.2%, with small caps eyeing their seventh positive session in the past eight.

Tuesday’s Performance In Major ...