US: Stocks close higher after more evidence of cooling inflation
US STOCKS edged higher on Wednesday as traders reacted to evidence of cooling consumer inflation, a positive sign for the Federal Reserve as it weighs cutting interest rates.
The consumer price index (CPI) eased more than expected last month to reach its lowest level since March 2021, according to fresh Labor Department data, bolstering the chances that the Fed will make its first rate cut in September.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.6 per cent at 40,008.39, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 5,455.21, and the Nasdaq increased by less than 0.1 per cent 17,192.60.
“Basically, inflation was in line with expectations,” Peter Cardillo from Spartan Capital told AFP.
He added that traders were now looking ahead to Fed chair Jerome Powell’s speech to central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, later this month, where they would be looking for clues of a possible rate cut in September.
Among individual stocks, the news of Snickers maker Mars’s near-US$36 billion acquisition of snacking giant Kellanova made waves on Wall Street, sending the share price of the former firm up by 4.5 per cent, and the latter by 7.8 per cent.
But there were some notable declines as well, with Google owner Alphabet falling 2.4 per cent, and EV automaker Tesla falling by 3.1 per cent. AFP
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