US: Muted day on Wall Street after mixed inflation data

WALL Street stock indices moved in opposite directions on Wednesday following a mixed inflation report while lackluster airline forecasts raised worries about demand.

Consumer inflation accelerated to 3.7 per cent in August, up from 3.2 per cent in July, an increase fueled by higher petrol prices.

Angelo Kourkafas, a senior investment strategist at Edward Jones, said the report is not likely to alter expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged this month.

“But the door is still open for another rate hike in November,” he said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2 per cent to 34,575.53.

But the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent at 4,467.44, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.3 per cent to 13,813.59.

Among individual companies, American Airlines shares fell 5.7 per cent as it warned of higher jet fuel costs and lowered its forecast for a key revenue benchmark.

Spirit Airlines and Frontier Group also slumped.

Netflix shares sank 5.2 per cent as the company’s chief financial officer told an investor conference the streaming company’s ad-based business was growing slowly.

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3M dropped 5.7 per cent as the company’s chief financial officer signaled at a conference that quarterly revenues were running a bit below prior forecasts. The industrial giant also indicated that it expects a “slow growth environment” heading into 2024. AFP