Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange saw a positive uptick in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday, following the release of encouraging U.S. inflation data. The 30-stock Dow climbed 242 points, or 0.61%, to close at 40,008.39. The S&P 500 also saw a slight increase of 0.38% to end the day at 5,455.21, marking its fifth consecutive winning day. The Nasdaq Composite managed to shake off earlier losses and closed higher by just 0.03% at 17,192.60.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that consumer prices increased by 2.9% year-over-year, down from 3% in June and the lowest reading since March 2021. Month-over-month, prices ticked up by 0.2%, in line with economists‘ expectations. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy from the headline number, also advanced by 0.2% on the month, meeting expectations.
The positive inflation data comes on the heels of lighter-than-expected wholesale inflation figures, which gave stocks a boost the previous day. The Dow rose by about 1%, the S&P 500 climbed 1.7%, and the Nasdaq gained 2.4%. Investors had been eagerly awaiting the CPI reading to gain a better understanding of the state of the economy and to gauge the likelihood of an interest rate cut at the central bank’s September meeting.
Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing for E-Trade from Morgan Stanley, commented on the situation, stating, „It may not have been as cool as yesterday’s PPI, but today’s as-expected CPI likely won’t rock the boat. Now the primary question is whether the Fed will cut rates by 25 or 50 basis points next month.“ Futures market pricing is split between expectations for a quarter or half-percentage point reduction at the central bank meeting on Sept. 17-18, with traders anticipating a basis point shift by the end of the year.
In other news, shares of Kellanova surged more than 7.8% following the announcement of its acquisition by snack maker Mars in a $36 billion deal. However, shares of Google-parent company Alphabet slipped 2.3% after news broke that the U.S. Department of Justice was considering efforts to break up the technology giant.
Despite recent market volatility and concerns about economic growth, all three major averages are now above their Aug. 2 closing level, which preceded the global market sell-off on Aug. 5. Gargi Chaudhuri, chief investment and portfolio strategist at BlackRock, expressed confidence in the market’s reaction, stating, „While growth risks have increased, we believe the market has overreacted to a small number of soft data points, not a drastic change to the macro outlook.“
Overall, the positive inflation data and market performance indicate a sense of stability and optimism among traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Investors will continue to monitor economic indicators and central bank decisions in the coming weeks to assess the trajectory of the market.