Wall Street ended Wednesday’s session on a positive note, as investors parsed fresh data on U.S. inflation. The S&P 500 posted its fifth straight day of gains — its longest streak in more than a month — with most of its major groups gaining value, with financials and energy stocks leading the move.
The S&P 500 index advanced 0.38% to 5,455.21 point, while the Dow Jones index rose by 0.61% to 40,008.39 points. Points. The Nasdaq Composite Index was unchanged, rising 0.029% to 17,192.60 points.
Fresh data on slowing inflation did little to change bets that the Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates next month. The annual inflation rate fell to 2.9% in July, down slightly from 3% in June, according to data released Wednesday.
“The recent volatility has been largely driven by macro news, and this is a case of boring news being good news,” Neil Birrell of Premier Miton Investors told Bloomberg. He also said the news “gives the Fed some breathing room as it assesses the economy ahead of its next meeting.”
As for the major technology companies, Nvidia shares rose by 1.67%, and Apple shares rose by 0.20%. Microsoft shares rose 0.69%. Meta fell 0.34%, while Alphabet shares fell 2.35%. Amazon shares were virtually unchanged, losing 0.076%.
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