US Stock Markets Today: Dow Jones Falls, Nasdaq 100 Rises After CPI Data Announcement

Two of the three main Wall Street indices opened in the green on Wednesday following the release of the US consumer price index data.

The broader index, S&P 500, is up by 0.50% at 6,064.80 points, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also surged 0.81% to 19,846.20 points.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.35% at the opening bell to 44,247.83.

Stocks like Johnson & Johnson were down 0.83%, Cisco Systems Inc. fell 0.22%, and Walt Disney Co. slipped 0.15%. Among the firms that rose in early trade were Boeing Co., up 2.55%, and Amazon.com Inc., which spiked 1.62%.

Among the 11 S&P 500 sectoral indices, three were trading higher, whereas eight lagged against the previous day's close. The gains were led by communication services, consumer staples, and consumer discretionary, whereas the energy, healthcare, and real estate sectors were among the drags.

US consumer prices kept rising in November. The core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy costs, went up by 0.3% for the fourth month in a row, as per the figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released on Wednesday. Compared to last year, it increased by 3.3%.

“The debate for the FOMC next week between cut or skip is over,” Schulze said to Bloomberg. “This inflation print should be risk asset friendly and provide a tailwind to equity markets as we move through one of the strongest seasonal periods of the year.”

As the US market opened, spot gold was higher 0.26% at $2,701.39, and brent crude oil traded 0.83% at $72.79.

The Bloomberg Dollar Index rose 0.1%, with the British pound changing slightly to $1.2756 while the Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 152.12 per dollar.

Bitcoin, the largest traded cryptocurrency, rose 1.8% to $98,634.26.