The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that U.S. stocks tumbled on Tuesday after a batch of upbeat economic data raised concerns that an inflation rebound could slow down the Federal Reserve's pace of monetary-policy easing. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says that Canadian stocks were dragged lower by the weak sentiment, but losses were more subtle, thanks largely to gains in the energy sector. Stocks gave up early gains after a Labour Department report showed U.S. job openings unexpectedly increased in November, while a separate report said services sector activity accelerated in December with a measure tracking input prices surging to a near two-year high. "Markets are starting to recognize that they thought we were in the eighth inning of the inflation fight but now it's going to be higher for longer," said Joe Mazzola at Charles Schwab Corp. The Dow fell 178.20 points to 42,528.36, while Nasdaq lost 375.30 points to 19,489.68. Shares of AI bellwether Nvidia fell 6.22 per cent, while Tesla fell 4 per cent after BofA downgraded the stock to neutral from buy. In Canada, the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 69.90 points at 24,929.89, with tech issues hardest hit. Energy stocks, however, made gains.