WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks moved mostly higher early in the session on Wednesday but gave back ground over the course of the trading day. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pulled back well off their best levels but still managed to end the day at new record closing highs.
The S&P 500 rose 19.43 points or 0.3 percent to 6,532.04 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 6.57 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,886.06.
The narrower Dow, on the other hand, slid 220.42 points or 0.5 percent to 45,490.92, as Apple (AAPL) slumped following the launch of new iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods on Tuesday. Steep losses by Salesforce (CRM) and Amazon (AMZN) also weighed on the day blue chip index.
The early strength on Wall Street came 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 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 92.1 chance of a quarter-point rate cut and a slim 7.9 percent chance of a half-point rate cut.
The markets also benefitted from a surge by shares of Oracle (ORCL), with the software company soaring by 36.0 percent.
The spike by Oracle came 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.
Buying waned over the course of the session, however, as traders looked ahead to the release of the Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation on Thursday.
Sector News
Semiconductor stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index up by 2.4 percent to a record closing high.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) surged by 3.8 percent after the chipmaker reported strong August revenue growth.
Considerable strength was also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The strength in the sector came as the price of gold inched up to a new record closing high.
Oil service, natural gas and utilities stocks also saw significant strength on the day, while retail and biotechnology stocks showed notable moves to the upside.
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 turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.2 percent and the German DAX Index fell by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries moved back to the upside following the pullback seen on Tuesday. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 4.2 basis points to a five-month closing low of 4.032 percent.
Looking Ahead
The Labor Department's report on consumer price inflation is likely to be in focus on Thursday, as it may shed additional light on the outlook for interest rates.
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