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Wall Street stocks climbed early Wednesday following data showing consumer inflation moderated in April while retail sales stagnated.
The closely-watched consumer price index report showed monthly inflation came in at 0.3 percent, slightly below expectations, while annual inflation was 3.4 percent in April, down 0.1 percentage points from March.
Retail sales were flat in April, missing estimates for a 0.4 percent increase.
About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent at 39,744.90.
The broad-based S&P 500 also gained half a percent to 5,273.51, along with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index, which stood at 16,600.61, adding to Tuesday’s record.
The inflation report broke a streak of hotter-than-expected pricing data that has pushed back expectations for US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.
US Treasury bond yields retreated following Wednesday’s data.
The takeaway from the CPI data is “that there were no negative surprises,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
“However, the disinflation in April is still only a baby step toward the Fed’s two percent inflation target, which will leave the Fed stuck in a watch-and-wait mode,” he said.
jmb/mlm
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