Live Markets: Wall Street looks upward after inflation data
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WALL STREET LOOKS UPWARD AFTER INFLATION DATA
U.S. equity indexes are rising on Wednesday as the wait for July's closely watched consumer inflation reading finally ended with no surprises and investors eyed the latest earnings reports while oil prices fell slightly with little sign of progress in the Middle East.
Iran and the United States remained at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who told Reuters there had been no progress in talks to revive an interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it. The U.S. is accusing Iran of failing to honor an agreement to reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz energy shipping route while Tehran says Washington reneged on commitments to lift blockades on Iranian ports and release frozen Iranian assets.
Technology .SPLRCT is bringing the biggest index point boost by far to the S&P 500 .SPX and it is the biggest percentage gainer among the benchmark's 11 major industry sectors.
Shares of CoreWeave CRWV.O and Super Micro Computer SMCI.O are rallying after upbeat forecasts from the two AI infrastructure companies reinforced demand expectations for computing capacity. Their reports appeared to brighten the mood across the technology sector.
With that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index .SOX is climbing 3%. But on the flipside, the S&P 500 Software and Services Index .SPLRCIS is last down 1.4%.
Still, only four of the S&P 500 sector indexes are gaining ground on the day with Consumer Discretionary .SPLRCD and Healthcare .SPXHC leading declines.
The July CPI reading was pretty much as expected, leading traders to adjust expectations for Federal Reserve policy. The probability for rates to stay steady in September rose to roughly 62% from about 52% on Tuesday, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. However, George Bory, chief investment strategist for fixed income at Allspring Global Investments, was cautious.
"Today’s data shows that we could be past peak inflation. It does take some pressure off the Fed. That being said, it’s premature to call the all-clear because some of the underlying inflation figures are still elevated," Bory said. "We expect no rate hikes this year. But as much as the current stats are showing that inflation could be moderating, much hinges on oil prices and the Middle East."
Meanwhile, arguably Wednesday's bigger event was far from Wall Street. Millions of people gathered in Iceland and northern Spain to witness Europe's first total solar eclipse in 27 years. New Yorkers on the other hand were less excited as they will just be able to see a roughly 9% eclipseof the sun.
Possibly unrelated, but after seven straight days of gains Europe's 600 price index .STOXX gave up earlier gains and was down very slightly ahead of its close.
Here is your morning snapshot:
(Sinéad Carew)
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EARLIER ON LIVE MARKETS:
S&P 500 FUTURES ADD SLIGHTLY TO GAINS, YIELDS CHURN AFTER IN-LINE CPI CLICK HERE
HALF-TIME IN EUROPE: TRYING FOR GAINS CLICK HERE
WHY CHINA'S THREAT TO EUROPEAN AUTOS IS MORE NUANCED THAN IT LOOKS CLICK HERE
HOW AI MIGHT ACCELERATE THE K-SHAPE CLICK HERE
STOXX FLAT, BUT NEAR RECORD HIGHS CLICK HERE
BEFORE THE BELL: EUROPE SET FOR MUTED OPEN AHEAD OF US DATA CLICK HERE
HOT SPOTS SIZZLE, CPI LOOMS CLICK HERE
