M - Stocks Higher Following Inflation Data

Stocks were higher 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 Dow Jones Industrials sprinted 119.67 points to 36,524.60.

The S&P 500 gained 6.04 points to 4,628.48.

The NASDAQ hiked 35.53 points to 14,468.02.

Oracle were down 11% after the company's revenue for the fiscal second quarter missed Wall Street expectations. Stock in retailer Macy's pulled back nearly 4% following a downgrade to sell from Citi on Tuesday.

The U.S. 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 economist expectations.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained slightly, lowering yields to 4.22% from Monday's 4.24%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices dropped $2.40 to $68.86 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices gathered $2.40 to $1,996.10.