Wall Street Higher After CPI Data
On Wednesday stocks on Wall Street rose, after the monthly consumer price index indicated that inflation was cooling, fueling hope that the Federal Reserve may trim interest rates this year.
The NASDAQ Composite rose 100 points, or 0.6%, the S&P 500 traded 30 points, or 0.6%, higher, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 140 points, or 0.4%.
In April the consumer price index was 0.3% higher for the month, and the annual number eased from 3.5% growth the previous month to 3.4%.
The core CPI, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose 0.3% while the core CPI inflation rate eased from 3.8% in March to 3.6% annually.
In September 2022 the core CPI inflation rate peaked at 6.6%, a 40-year high.
Although these numbers are still higher than the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, they show a cooling and were a relief after the hotter-than-expected producer prices released on Tuesday.
On Tuesday Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that inflation was taking long to drop back to target, but he added that at current levels, monetary policy was tight enough, leading to the market cheering that the Fed would not hike interest rates any more in this year.