04:11 PM EST, 11/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes closed lower Monday amid persistent inflation concerns, which lowered expectations for a December interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

* The chances of a quarter-point interest rate cut in December fell to 42.9% from 44.4% Friday, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

* The New York Fed's Empire State manufacturing index jumped to 18.7 in November from 10.7 in October, defying Bloomberg forecasts for a decline to 5.8 and signaling faster growth in factory activity.

* December West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $0.32 to settle at $59.77 per barrel, while January Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.32 to $64.07.

* Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) shares rose about 3.1% after Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ) (BRK.A, BRK.B) said in a Friday regulatory filing that it had acquired a $4.3 billion stake in Google's ( GOOG ) parent company.

* Dell Technologies ( DELL ) shares fell nearly 8.4%, the worst performer on the S&P 500, after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight from overweight and cut its price target to $110 from $144.