Wall Street stocks finished lower on Tuesday as markets paused from a post-election rally, while Google parent Alphabet surged on what it called a "major" technology announcement.

After winning numerous records in the weeks since the November 5 presidential election, US stocks have fallen the last two days amid caution ahead of key inflation data.

But Alphabet jumped 5.3 percent after Google showed off a new quantum computing chip that it described as a significant breakthrough in the field that it said could lead to advances in drug discovery, fusion energy and other areas.

The Dow Jones finished down 0.4 percent at 44.247.

The S&P 500 declined 0.3 percent to 6,034, while the tech-rich Nasdaq also fell 0.3 percent to 19,687.

The losses come ahead of Thursday's consumer price index, which will be closely scrutinised by the Federal Reserve. The US central bank is expected to cut interest rates later this month.

Among individual companies, Walgreens Boots Alliance soared 17.7 percent following reports that it could be acquired by private equity firm Sycamore Partners.

Boeing jumped 4.5 percent as it announced it was resuming production at two Seattle-area plants that had been shuttered for nearly three months due to a labour strike.

Oracle slumped 6.7 percent after reporting lower-than-expected profits despite "extraordinary" growth in the artificial intelligence segment of the company's infrastructure business.

Meanwhile, Alaska Air Group surged 13.2 percent as it unveiled a medium-term outlook that promised "at least" US$10 earnings per share in 2027. In 2023, the airline company earned US1.83 per share. (AFP)