Wall Street holds steady despite more discouraging inflation data as tech stocks recover

Wall Street opened in mixed trading on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 down 0.1% near its all-time high, the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 235 points (0.5%), and the Nasdaq rising 0.2%. Tech stocks led gains, including Nvidia, which climbed 2.4% after stumbling the prior day, while Micron Technology rose 4.3%. Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, was invited to join former U.S. President Donald Trump on a trip to China, where AI chip shipments to the world’s second-largest economy could be discussed. A report revealed U.S. wholesale inflation was worse than expected, following Tuesday’s consumer inflation acceleration. Rising fuel, transportation, and food prices—driven by tariffs, bad weather, and the Iran war—pushed oil prices higher, with Brent crude at $107.55, up from $70 pre-war. This has dashed hopes for Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2024, with a hike now appearing more likely. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.47%, up from 4.46% late Tuesday and significantly higher than its 3.97% level before the war. Lower rates would ease borrowing costs but risk fueling further inflation. Meanwhile, Japan’s SoftBank reported a near fivefold profit jump for the year through March, driven by AI investments. Global markets were mixed, with South Korea’s Kospi surging 2.6% after a 2.3% drop the prior day, following speculation about redistributing AI windfall profits. European indexes followed Asia’s stronger performance, though overall sentiment remained cautious amid inflation concerns.