04:51 PM EST, 12/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes closed lower Tuesday as markets awaited the official consumer inflation report for November.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4% to 44,247.8. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3% each to 6,034.9 and 19,687.2, respectively. Real estate saw the steepest decline among sectors, while communication services led the gainers.

Government data are expected to show Wednesday that US consumer inflation rose 0.3% sequentially and 2.7% annually last month, according to a Bloomberg-compiled consensus. In October, the US consumer price index increased 0.2% month on month and 2.6% on an annual basis.

The official producer prices report for November is scheduled to be released Thursday.

The US 10-year yield increased 2.9 basis points to 4.23% Tuesday, while the two-year rate added two basis points to 4.15%.

In economic news, small business optimism in the US reached its highest level since June 2021 last month, while the uncertainty index fell, the National Federation of Independent Business' latest survey showed.

"The (US presidential) election results signal a major shift in economic policy, leading to a surge in optimism among small business owners," NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said. "Main Street also became more certain about future business conditions following the election, breaking a nearly three-year streak of record high uncertainty."

Global airline industry revenue is expected to top $1 trillion in 2025 for the first time, rising 4.4% annually to about $1.007 trillion, the International Air Transport Association said. Passenger numbers are seen growing 6.7% to 5.2 billion next year, surpassing the 5 billion mark for the first time, according to the report.

In company news, MongoDB ( MDB ) shares plunged nearly 17%, the worst performer on the Nasdaq. Late Monday, the database software maker raised its full-year outlook and reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results, but forecast a consumption slowdown for its Atlas cloud platform in the ongoing quarter.

Oracle (ORCL) saw one of the steepest declines on the S&P 500 Tuesday, down 6.7%. The software maker's fiscal second-quarter results fell short of Wall Street's estimates late Monday as strength in its cloud operations was countered by revenue declines in hardware and services offerings.

Walgreens Boots Alliance ( WBA ) is in talks to be acquired by private-equity firm Sycamore Partners, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Walgreens shares jumped 18%, the best performer on the S&P 500.

Boeing ( BA ) was the top gainer on the Dow and among the best on the S&P 500, up 4.5%, after the plane maker said it has resumed 737 production at its factory in Renton, Washington. The company's November deliveries and orders fell both sequentially and annually.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was little changed at $68.38 a barrel Tuesday.

Gold rose 1.3% to $2,719.80 per troy ounce, while silver added 0.1% to $32.63 per ounce.