"US Stock Market Inches Higher as Investors Await Inflation Data"

Stocks traded flat as investors awaited U.S. inflation data and earnings, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones up 0.2% and the Nasdaq up 0.4%. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and Marathon Digital fell over 1.5% each as bitcoin prices declined due to an incorrect SEC announcement. Intuitive Surgical and Lennar led gains after strong reports, while the latest consumer price index report is expected to show a 3.2% rise in December. Barclays projects a "higher, yet more sober" equity market in 2024, and stock futures opened little changed.