WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday, extending the upward move seen over the course of the previous session. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 have climbed to new record intraday highs, although the narrower Dow has bucked the uptrend.
Currently, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are off their highs of the session but still firmly in positive territory. The Nasdaq is up 103.56 points or 0.5 percent at 21,983.04 and the S&P 500 is up 28.31 points or 0.4 percent at 6,540.92.
The Dow, on the other hand, is down 307.67 points or 0.7 percent at 45,403.67 due in part to a 2.8 percent slump by Apple (AAPL) following the launch of new iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods on Tuesday.
The strength in the broader markets comes following the release of a Labor Department report unexpectedly showing a modest decrease by producer prices in the U.S. in the month of August.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand edged down by 0.1 percent in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.7 percent in July.
The dip surprised economists, who had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.9 percent jump originally reported for the previous month.
The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 2.6 percent in August from a downwardly revised 3.1 percent in July.
Economists had expected the annual rate of producer price growth to remain unchanged compared to the 3.3 percent surge originally reported for the previous month.
The data has added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates by at least a quarter point at its monetary policy meeting next week.
Following the report, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 90.0 chance of a quarter-point rate cut and a slim 10.0 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.
The markets are also benefitting from a surge by shares of Oracle (ORCL), with the software company soaring by 42.3 percent.
The spike by Oracle comes after the company reported slightly weaker than expected fiscal first quarter earnings but said it expects cloud infrastructure revenue to skyrocket to $144 billion in fiscal 2030 from $10.3 billion in fiscal 2025.
Overall buying interest appears be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation on Thursday.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.6 percent to a record intraday high.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) have surged by 5.0 percent after the chipmaker reported stronger August revenue growth.
Significant strength is also visible among networking stocks, with the NYSE Arca Networking Index jumping by 2.0 percent to a record intraday high.
Software, gold and airline stocks are also seeing considerable strength on the day, while biotechnology and retail stocks have shown notable moves to the downside.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index advanced by 0.9 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped by 1.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have turned mixed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index is down by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a modest move back to the upside following the pullback seen on Tuesday. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is down by 1.1 basis points at 4.063 percent.
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