Dow rises on further signs of easing inflation
Investing.com– The Dow jumped Wednesday as data showing further progress on disinflation front is expected to bring the Federal Reserve a step closer to begin the rate-cutting cycle.
At 15:27 ET (19:27 GMT), the traded 235 points, or 0.6%, higher, the rose 0.2% and fell 0.3%.
CPI data add to evidence of cooling inflation
U.S. consumer prices increased by less than expected on an annualized basis in July, with the July rising by 2.9%, decelerating slightly from 3.0% in June. Economists had predicted that the figure would match June’s rate.
Stripping out more volatile items like food and fuel, the “core” climbed by 3.2% in the twelve months to July, below projections of 3.3%.
The report comes just a day after Tuesday’s cooler-than-expected July producer price index, adding to signs that the Fed’s policies are working to bring down inflation.
“The Fed has been desperate for signs of the impact of their rate hikes on demand and inflation, and they have finally started seeing it since May,” Jefferies said in a Wednesday note.
Intel sells Arm stake; Google in legal spotlight; Kellanova in deal fever
Intel (NASDAQ:) sold its 1.18 million share stake in British chip firm Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:) in the second quarter, a regulatory filing showed on Tuesday.
The chipmaker said earlier this month that it would cut more than 15% of its workforce and suspend its dividend amid a pullback in spending on traditional data center semiconductors and a shift towards AI chips.
Kellanova (NYSE:) rose nearly 8% after the packaged foods maker agred to be acquired by chocolate giant Mars at price of $83.50.
Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:) fell 3% on a Bloomberg report, citing unnamed sources, that the U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly mulling plans to rein in Google’s dominance in online search including a break up.
On the earnings front, Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:) climbed 3% after the health care company raised its guidance for the full year following fiscal Q4 results that beat analyst estimates.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
