Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after a key August inflation report came in hotter than expected, hurting investor optimism for cooling prices and a less aggressive Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 dropped about 4.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite sank more than 5%. More than 490 stocks in the S&P 500 fell, with Facebook-parent Meta dropping 8% and Caesars Entertainment losing 7.3%. Headline inflation rose 0.1% month over month, even with falling gas prices. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been expecting a decline of 0.1% for overall inflation, with a rise of 0.3% for core inflation.

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