U.S. stocks tick toward records after an encouraging report on inflation
NEW YORK — U.S. stock indexes are ticking higher on Wednesday following a better-than-expected update on inflation across the country.
The S&P 500 was up 0.2 per cent in early trading and approaching its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 170 points, or 0.4 per cent, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was hovering around its own record set the day before.
Stocks got a boost from easing Treasury yields in the bond market after a report said inflation slowed by more last month at the wholesale level than economists expected. The data offer some encouragement after a report on Tuesday suggested U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs are pushing up the prices U.S. shoppers are paying for toys, apparel and other imported products.
Trump's tariffs are making their weight felt across financial markets. ASML, the world's leading supplier of chipmaking gear, warned that it can't guarantee any growth next year, after delivering an expected 15 per cent growth in sales for 2025.
Conditions still look strong for ASML's customers in the artificial-intelligence business, but CEO Christophe Fouquet said in a video that 'the level of uncertainty is increasing, mostly due to macroeconomic and geopolitical consideration. And that includes, of course, tariffs.'
Shares of ASML, which is based in the Netherlands, that trade in the United States fell 9.7 per cent.
Stocks of several U.S. banks helped to offset that after they reported stronger profits for the latest quarter than analysts expected.
PNC Financial Services Group climbed 1.7 per cent following its better-than-expected quarterly report, thanks in part to loan growth despite what CEO Bill Demchak called 'an uncertain macro environment.'
Bank of America and Goldman Sachs each inched up by at least 0.5 per cent after likewise reporting better profit than analysts expected.
Johnson & Johnson jumped 4.1 per cent after the drug and medical device giant beat analysts' sales and profit targets and raised its full-year forecasts for both. CEO Joaquin Duato said it expects 'game-changing approvals and submissions' in the second half of 2025 on an array of products, including for lung and bladder cancer.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements.
Stocks rose 0.7 per cent in Jakarta after Trump said Tuesday that he plans to charge imports from Indonesia a tariff of 19 per cent, instead of the 32 per cent that he had threatened earlier, after reaching a trade deal.
Indonesia's central bank also cut its key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday, to 5.25 per cent.
'We have calculated everything and discussed everything. The most important thing for me is my people, as I must protect the interests of our workers,' Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto told reporters, adding that 'this is our offer, and we are not able to give more (to the United States).'
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury fell to 4.46 per cent from 4.50 per cent late Tuesday.
Wednesday's encouraging report on inflation could give the U.S. Federal Reserve some confidence that it can resume cutting interest rates later this year in order to give the economy a boost.
Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they juice prices higher for stocks and other investments, and Trump himself has been clamoring for the Federal Reserve to cut rates more quickly. But the Fed has been keeping interest rates on hold this year because lower rates can also give inflation more.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has been insisting that he wants to see more data about how tariffs affect the economy and inflation before making a move.
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AP business writers Matt Ott, Kelvin Chan and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
By Stan Choe
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