Today’s stock market: real-time updates

U.S. stocks were flat on Wednesday as annual inflation topped 3%, encouraging investors who bought stocks after a pullback in early August.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.03%, while Nasdaq Composite Index Down 0.3%. Dow Jones Industrial Average An increase of 66 points, or 0.16%.

Rising consumer prices The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Wednesday that the price index rose 2.9% year-on-year, down from 3% in June and the lowest level since 2021. It rose 0.2% month-on-month. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected the price index to rise 0.2% month-on-month and 3% year-on-year.

So-called core inflation, which excludes food and energy from the headline figure, rose 0.2% month-on-month, also in line with expectations.

The day before, weaker-than-expected wholesale inflation data boosted stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 1%. The S&P 500 rose 1.7% and the Nasdaq rose 2.4%.

Investors had been watching the CPI data for an overall picture of the state of the economy and to further solidify prospects for a rate cut at the central bank’s September meeting.

Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at Morgan Stanley E-Trade, said: “Today’s CPI data may not be as cold as yesterday’s PPI data, but it is not expected to have much impact. The main question now is whether the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points or 50 basis points next month.”

Based on the data, futures markets are pricing in roughly two scenarios, one that expects the central bank to cut rates by a quarter or half a percentage point at its Sept. 17-18 meeting, and another that predicts a total of one basis point in rate cuts by the end of the year. CME FedWatch tool.

“If the majority of data over the next five weeks point to a slowdown, the Fed could see further aggressive rate cuts,” Larkin said.

Currently, all three major stock indices are above their closing levels on August 2, which is the global August 5 Market Selloff This appears to be related to the loosening of trade with Japan and concerns about economic growth.

“We think there is a good chance that stocks will continue to be strong for the rest of the year and gain another 5%,” said Skyler Weinand, chief investment officer at Regan Capital. “Consumer and corporate balance sheets are very strong, and we can expect multiples to expand further as earnings stabilize and growth modestly accelerates.”