By Liz Moyer

Investing.com — U.S. stock prices opened lower on Tuesday because of persistent inflation fears.

The fell to 1% at 9:56 am ET. Meanwhile, the was 0.9% lower and the was 0.9% higher.

Despite last week’s rallies, stocks were still on course to finish the month lower. The Dow and the S&P were down about 1% on the last day of trading for the month, while the Nasdaq was down about 2%.

The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met with President Joe Biden Tuesday to discuss inflation control. According to polling data, Biden has lower approval ratings than either his predecessor or previous presidents. Over the holiday weekend, gasoline prices in the United States were above $4.60 per gallon (nationwide) and over $6 in certain places, such as California. This was a pinching household budgets that have already been stretched by the start of summer travel season.

According to the Conference Board, the measured value was 106.4. This is higher than what 103.9 people expected.

Unilever PLC shares ADR (NYSE) rose by more than 7.5% on Tuesday following the appointment of Nelson Peltz as nonexecutive chairman. Peltz is a billionaire activist investor. Trian Fund Management holds a 1.5% share in the company’s consumer products division.

Oil prices surged. The price of oil rose 1.1% to $118/barrel, and rose 1.4% to above $119/barrel. To $1,848 an troy ounce, gold lost 0.5%