US indices close lower amid pressure on bank stocks

US stocks ended Tuesday lower, weighed down by losses in banking shares after JPMorgan’s CFO signaled resistance to President Donald Trump’s call to cut credit card interest rates.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.80%, or 398 points, to 49,191 points.

The broader S&P 500 index inched down 0.20%, or 13 points, to 6,963 points, while the Nasdaq Composite retreated 0.1%, or 24 points, to 23,709 points.

Shares of JPMorgan slid 4.19% to $310.9 after the bank’s CFO, Jeremy Barnum, indicated that the banking sector may reject Trump’s call to impose a one-year cap of 10% on credit card interest rates.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 remained unchanged at 610 points, after dropping to 608 earlier during the session.

London’s FTSE 100 and Germany’s DAX remained stable at 10,137 and 25,420 points, respectively, while France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.14% to 8,347 points.

Following the resumption of trading after a public holiday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 3.10% to 53,549 points, while the broader Topix index jumped 2.40% to 3,598 points, both posting record highs.

In oil markets, Brent crude futures for March delivery added 2.51%, or $1.60, to $65.47 a barrel.

US WTI crude futures for February delivery increased 2.77%, or $1.65, to $61.15 a barrel.

Gold futures for February delivery slipped 0.33%, or $15.4, to settle at $4,599.10 per ounce.

Official data released today showed that the US consumer price inflation rate held steady at 2.7% in December, while core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, also remained unchanged at 2.6%.