Investors waltzed through a choppy trading session on Tuesday, leaving the Dow Jones Industrial Average slightly ahead, with the Dow closing up 221.16 points, or 0.5%, at 42,518.2. The S&P 500, representing how the broader market is trading in U.S. equities, also rose by just 0.11% to conclude at 5,842.9, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.23% to finish at 19,044.3.

The producer price index (PPI) report released this month showed a lower-than-expected 0.2% rise compared with expectations of a 0.4 percent increase, easing some inflationary concerns. Core PPI was flat, which adjusts for volatile food and energy but not volatile fuel components. However, traders were uncertain how to interpret the subdued inflation data, and they were waiting to see what the consumer price index (CPI) read on Wednesday. Headline CPI is expected to edge up 0.3 percent, with economists offering others clues on whether the Federal Reserve is nearing its 2 percent inflation target and hints of changes to policy interest rates.

Nvidia (NVDA, Financial) fell 1.1% and Meta Platforms (META, Financial) dropped 2.3%. Meanwhile, financials, utilities and materials sectors added more than 1%, on the strength of a 3% gain from the SPDR S&P Regional Bank ETF (KRE) and the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE), which climbed 3%.

Small caps outperformed elsewhere, with the Russell 2000 up 1.1%. Bitcoin rose nearly 4% to top $96,500, but crude oil fell 1.3 percent to near end at $77.75 per barrel.

On the NYSE and Nasdaq, trading volume was down, but the number of advancing stocks outpaced those that were declining, a sign of cautious optimism across major indices.