Stocks climbed for a fourth session on Tuesday as Wall Street parsed through another round of inflation data in search for clues on when the Federal Reserve could start easing monetary policy.

The S&P 500 added 0.46% to close at 4,643.70, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 173.01 points, or 0.48%, to 36,577.94. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.70% to 14,533.40.

All three major indexes touched new intraday 52-week highs on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 hitting its highest intraday level since January 2022. The tech-heavy Nasdaq and Dow touched their highest intraday levels since April and January of last year, respectively.

The consumer price index rose 3.1% in November year over year and 0.1% month over month. Economists polled by Dow Jones forecast a 3.1% annual increase. Month over month, they expected CPI to remain flat. Excluding food and energy, inflation rose in line with economists' expectations.

The report comes as investors try to end a strong year on a high note. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have six consecutive weeks of gains.

"Bulls and bears each have their talking points about the [November] consumer price index, but the fact of the matter was that the number was very consistent with expectations, and thus changes little," said Adam Crisafulli, founder and president of Vital Knowledge. "The consensus mindset seems eager for a buyable pullback (as underinvested people would like to deploy sidelined capital) which is likely why one doesn't seem to be happening."

Traders will now turn their attention to the Fed's policy announcement, slated for Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET. Wall Street largely expect the central bank to hold rates steady. However, they will comb through Chair Jerome Powell's commentary for signals of when rate cuts could come.

Shares of tech giant Oracle were down more than 12% a day after the company's revenue for the fiscal second quarter missed Wall Street expectations. Macy's pulled back 8% following a downgrade to sell from Citi on Tuesday.

Stocks close higher

Stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 climbing to its highest intraday level since January of 2022.

The broader market index added 0.46% to close at 4,643.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 173.01 points, or 0.48%, to finish at 36,577.94, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.70% to 14,533.40.

— Brian Evans

Energy drags on S&P 500

Energy stocks restricted gains for the S&P 500 on Tuesday.

The index climbed 0.3%, with eight of 11 sectors trading higher. But energy names lagged, as the sector traded down 1.3% in the session.

The sector was led into the red by Occidental Petroleum, Marathon Oil, Devon Energy and EQT. All were down more than 2% in the session.

Every energy name in the index was poised for losses.

Equity momentum is strong after faltering for the past 2 weeks

After two weeks of slowing futures flows, market momentum is picking back up in both the U.S. and Europe spurred by an ongoing equity rally, according to Citi.

"This means current flow momentum is strongly bullish as we go into the last major week of the year for economic releases and central bank meetings," wrote analyst Chris Montagu.

He also pointed out that December contracts are set to expire this week, which could further inject liquidity and volatility into the market as traders adjust their positions.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Bank of America clients were net sellers last week

Clients of Bank of America Securities were selling more stocks than buying them last week — for the first time since October, the bank said Tuesday.

Institutional investors led the pack, followed by hedge funds, who were net sellers for a fourth consecutive week. Private clients, however, were net buyers.

"Clients sold 7 of the 11 GICS sectors, led by Health Care — fifth consecutive week of outflows and largest since August (we are underweight the sector in our year ahead outlook). Materials saw the largest outflow since August," strategist Jill Carey Hall said in note.

Cyclicals and defensives saw outflows for a sixth consecutive week, while technology and communication services led the inflows, she wrote.

Meanwhile, ETFs also saw inflows.

— Michelle Fox

Semis could have some steam into year-end, Wolfe Research says

There's something going on with chip stocks, and it could mean more gains for the sector, Wolfe Research said.

"A week ago, they looked like they were rolling and consolidating beneath resistance as their overbought conditions started to gain traction, but [Monday's] 3.4% rally helped to clear both absolute and relative resistance," strategist Rob Ginsberg wrote.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) has been on fire this year, gaining 56%.

— Fred Imbert

Walgreens considering IPO for Boots, report says

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance rose to session highs after Bloomberg News reported that the company was mulling an exit for its international arm.

The report, citing people with knowledge of the matter, said the company considering an initial public offering of the UK-based Boots pharmacy chain in London. The deal could value Boots at more than $8 billion, the report said.

Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance were last up about 1.8% for the day.

— Jesse Pound

Top investors Hobson and Rogers of Ariel Investments say small caps will rebound in 2024

The investment plays that succeeded in 2023 likely won't work in 2024, Ariel Investments co-CEOs Mellody Hobson and John Rogers Jr. told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Tuesday. 

The two investors think that 2024 could be a breakout year for smaller and value stocks. These names have taken a backseat for most of 2023, as the "Magnificent 7" dominated the market rally. The Magnificent 7 now encapsulate more than three times the market cap of the Russell 2000, Hobson told said.

"I think the S&P will have a harder time versus the smaller indices, because the mean reversion at some point catches up," Hobson noted. 

The full story can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

Stocks making the biggest moves midday

These are some of the stocks making notable moves in midday trading:

• Oracle — The software provider tumbled 11% on Tuesday, one day after reporting worse revenue than analysts expected for the fiscal second quarter.
• Centene — Shares popped more than 3% after Centene raised its fiscal 2024 earnings guidance and authorized a $4 billion increase to its stock repurchase program. 
• Johnson Controls — The building technology stock dropped 7% on the back of a weaker-than-expected earnings report.

See the full list here.

— Alex Harring

Here's what could qualify an market upside in a presidential year, according to Canaccord Genuity

Canaccord Genuity provided two historical reference points that could indicate a potential upside during the 2024 presidential election year. Gains above these levels would likely be given back, the firm said.

First, the firm outlined previous occurrences of consecutive declines in August, September, and October that were followed with "meaningful rallies" in the S&P 500 and the small-cap Russell 2000 index. The upside into year-end for the broader market was between 5% and 8%, while the gain for the Russell was between 11 and 15%, Canaccord said.

Second, the firm said that, looking at fourth quarter median gains and maximum drawdowns in presidential pre-election years since 1952, the S&P 500 is already at its "upper end" of the historical data.

"In our view, there has been enough improvement to warrant an oversold rally and year-end catch-up in the broader market, but not yet enough to generate an economic re-acceleration that warrants a turn in our fundamental core thesis," analyst Tony Dwyer wrote in a Tuesday note. "We expect that time should come in early 2024."

— Pia Singh

Exxon hits new 52-week low as oil prices tumble

Exxon Mobil hit a new 52-week low as oil prices drag down the company's stock.

Exxon shares were trading at $97.99 on Tuesday. The oil giant's stock is falling as U.S. crude prices have booked seven weeks of losses.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January lost $2.75, or 3.86%, to trade $68.57 a barrel on Tuesday. Oil traders are worried that U.S. inflation data indicates the Federal Reserve is not ready to ease up on interest rates yet.

— Spencer Kimball

Ed Yardeni sees S&P 500 surging to 6,000 in 2025

Widely-followed Wall Street strategist Ed Yardeni issued a head-turning bull call on the stock market, seeing the S&P 500 soaring all the way to 6,000 in 2025.

"That's because we are seeing more reasons to believe in our Roaring 2020s scenario — the theory that productivity growth, driven by technological solutions to the labor market's supply/demand imbalance, will lead to strong economic growth throughout this decade," Yardeni said in a note to clients Sunday evening.

— Yun Li

Major indexes reach new 52-week intraday highs

The three major indexes all touched fresh 52-week intraday highs during Tuesday's trading session.

The Nasdaq Composite rose to 14,474.02, its highest intraday level since Apr. 5, 2022, when it hit 14,500.29.

The S&P 500 reached its highest intraday level since Mar. 29, 2022, at 4,630.49. At the last intraday high milestone, the S&P 500 hit 4,637.30.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average achieved a high of 36,531.97, its highest intraday level since Jan. 5, 2022, when it traded at 36,952.65.

— Hakyung Kim

Gasoline prices have fallen 19% since September peak

Prices at the pump in the U.S. have have fallen about 19% since a September peak as Americans enter the busy holiday shopping and travel season, according to data from AAA.

A gallon of gas cost $3.14 on average in the U.S. as of Tuesday, the twelfth straight week that prices have dropped as U.S. crude oil has tumbled.

Gasoline futures, meanwhile, were trading at $1.99 on Tuesday, down 2.84%

Consumers are seeing gas prices that are lower than the past two holiday seasons and the first year-over-year declines since 2020, according to a Tuesday note from Citi.

— Spencer Kimball

U.S. crude oil drops 3% on inflation worries

U.S. crude oil prices on Tuesday dropped more than 3% as traders worries that the Federal Reserve does not yet have inflation under control.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for January lost $2.41, or 3.38%, to trade at $68.91 a barrel, while the Brent crude contract for February shed $2.33, or 3.06%, to trade at $73.70 a barrel.

Inflation in the U.S. rose 0.1% in November after being unchanged in October. Traders are worried that the Fed does not have inflation under control and will have to keep the foot on the accelerator when it comes to interest rates, said Phil Flynn, an analyst with the Price Futures Group.

Flynn said the confidence of the oil market has been shattered after a seven-week streak of losses.

Record oil production in the U.S. is colliding with a weakening economy in China, raising concerns that OPEC+ will not be able to stabilize crude prices with its new round of cuts set for the first quarter.

— Spencer Kimball

Latest CPI print is 'not a good report for Fed officials,' Rupkey says

Tuesday's consumer price index report will do little to change the Federal Reserve's rate cut expectations, according to Chris Rupkey of FWDBONDS.

"Stay tuned," he wrote. "Fed officials were not thrown a curve ball today, they can keep with the forecasts for rate cuts next year that they made last weekend."

Even as the general public's inflation expectations fall, core inflation continues to rise and pressures persist, he wrote. The latest CPI report showed inflation slow at an annual rate, but pickup from flat in October.

"To get inflation down to the 2% target, the Fed needs monthly changes of 0.2%, not the 0.3% November core CPI reading the markets got today," he wrote.

"Of course the market does not know what to do, as technically inflation met expectations for core CPI of 0.3% this month, but this is not a good report for Fed officials, although at least the price surge coming out of the pandemic may be over," he added

— Samantha Subin

Stocks open little changed

Stocks open little changed on Tuesday as Wall Street parses over the latest inflation data ahead of the next Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hovered near the flatline, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 24 points, or 0.07%.

— Brian Evans

CPI rises 0.1% month over month in November

The consumer price index gained 0.1% in November from the prior month. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected CPI to be flat month over month. On a year-over-year basis, the print came in at 3.1%, in line with expectations.

Excluding energy and food, CPI rose 0.3% month over month and 4% year over year — also matching expectations.

— Fred Imbert

The Federal Reserve will begin interest rate cuts in mid 2024, CNBC survey finds

Respondents to the latest CNBC Fed Survey expect the central bank to begin cutting interest rates in the middle of next year and are more optimistic on the likelihood of a soft landing.

More than half of the 35 economists, strategists and analysts polled by CNBC expect June to be the first month of Fed cuts, while 69% expect another cut in July. The average forecast from respondents calls for roughly 85 basis points of interest rate cuts in 2024.

Meanwhile, soft landing expectations also climbed in the December survey compared to a month earlier. Respondents increased the probability of soft landing to 47%, a basis point increase from November, while trimming the odds of a recession in 2024 by 8 basis points to 41%.

— Brian Evans

This week's 'big 3' events likely to be speedbumps, Vital Knowledge says

Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge noted Tuesday that the three major events for the market this week — U.S. CPI on Tuesday, the Fed announcement Wednesday and the ECB decision Thursday — will likely be "speedbumps" for the market, not "sinkholes."

"The enormity of the move these last few weeks has eroded many prior technical tailwinds (positioning, sentiment, etc.), leaving stocks without much air cover in the near-term," he said. "However, the forces that drove bonds and equities higher are larger than individual central bank meetings or single economic releases – the economy is reverting to a state of relative normalcy as all the COVID-era distortions are finally wrung out."

— Fred Imbert

A lukewarm open in Europe

European stocks made a muted start to Tuesday's session.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 was up 0.1% in early trade, with household goods adding 0.6% to lead gains while telecoms fell 0.9%.

- Elliot Smith

Hasbro shares tumble on news of layoffs

Hasbro, maker of My Little Pony and Nerf toys, said it would be laying off roughly 1,100 of its workers, CNBC reported, citing a company memo.

The toymaker is grappling with soft sales that have continued into the holiday season and are "likely to persist into 2024," CEO Chris Cocks said in the memo.

Hasbro had about 6,300 workers as of earlier this year.

Shares were down more than 5% in after-hours trading.

Read more about the layoffs – and the text of the full memo – here.

—Darla Mercado, Drew Richardson

Lucid Group CFO resigns, stock falls

Struggling automaker Lucid Group took another hit on Monday.

Shares the electric vehicle company slipped nearly 3% in extended trading after Lucid announced that chief financial officer Sherry House is resigning, effective immediately. Lucid said that House is leaving to pursue other opportunities, but will be available in an advisory capacity through the end of the year.

Shares of Lucid were already down more than 30% year to date. The stock closed at less than $5 per share on Monday, down more than 90% from its all-time high in November 2021.

— Jesse Pound

Key inflation reading looms as Federal Reserve prepares to meet

Traders will have an eye out for November's consumer price index report, due Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Economists polled by Dow Jones anticipate that headline CPI held steady in November compared to the prior month, and they predict that it grew by 3.1% on a 12-month basis.

Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, is expected to have grown 0.3% from the previous month and to have advanced 4.0% from a year earlier.

The numbers will be arriving as the Federal Reserve kicks off its two-day meeting, where it will mull over its latest decision on rate policy and issue its economic projections.

—Darla Mercado

Futures open little changed

Stock futures opened little changed on Monday evening, with the three major contract down less than 0.1% apiece.

— Jesse Pound

Oracle falls after revenue miss

Shares of Oracle fell more than 7% in extended trading after the tech company's revenue for the fiscal second quarter came in short of expectations. Oracle generated $12.94 billion in revenue compared to the $13.05 billion expected by analysts, according to LSEG.

The revenue miss came from below-estimates results in multiple segments, including cloud services and license support, according to data from StreetAccount.

Shares of Oracle were up more than 40% for the year ahead of the report.

— Jesse Pound