Wall Street today: US stocks mostly down after inflation data

US stocks were mostly down on Wednesday after the latest consumer inflation data as investors were focused on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting next week.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) slowed to 2.5 per cent in August from a year ago, down from 2.9 per cent in July and the lowest annual figure since February 2021.

However, a measure of inflation that excludes volatile food and energy costs rose by a larger-than-expected 0.3 per cent from a month earlier.

As of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.9 per cent, the S&P 500 was 0.4 per cent lower, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1 per cent higher.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 98.2 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 40638.76. The S&P 500 fell 0.9 point, or 0.02 per cent, to 5496.42, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 35.5 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 17061.406.

Following Wednesday's inflation data, investors are betting the size of cut in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve on September 18.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group slumped 17 per cent after Tuesday’s presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

The former US president was seen defensive during the debate with Harris.

Shares of Nvidia jumped 3.5 per cent.

GameStop shares lost 12.3 per cent after the videogame retailer said it had filed for an offering of up to 20 million shares and reported lower second quarter revenue.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.65 per cent from 3.64 per cent late on Tuesday. The 2-year yield climbed to 3.64 per cent from 3.59 per cent.

Crude oil

Oil prices climbed more than $1 on Wednesday on a drop in US crude inventories and concern about disruptions to output from Hurricane Francine.

Brent crude futures were up $1.07, or 1.55 per cent, to $70.26 a barrel at 1319 GMT, while US crude futures gained $1.20, or 1.83 per cent, to $66.95.

Bullion

Gold prices inched higher on Wednesday as theUS dollar eased.

Spot gold was up 0.2 per cent at $2,520.64 per ounce, as of 1033 GMT. US gold futures edged 0.3 per cent higher to $2,549.50.

Spot silver was up 1.3 per cent at $28.76 per ounce.