S&P 500, Nasdaq 100 Extend Record Highs
US stocks rose to fresh records on Wednesday, supported by cooler inflation data and a strong Oracle forecast.
The S&P 500 rose 0.3% and the Nasdaq 100 finished slightly higher, both closing at records highs, while the Dow dropped 213 points on weakness in Apple. August’s Producer Price Index fell 0.1% versus expectations for a 0.3% gain, marking its first monthly drop in four months, while the annual PPI came in at 2.6%, below the 3.3% forecast, bolstering hopes that Thursday’s CPI report will confirm the disinflation trend.
Tech stocks led the gains as Oracle’s stock surged 35.9% after the company unveiled a massive jump in cloud bookings from AI demand, lifting Nvidia (3.8%) and AMD (2.4%), while Apple dropped 3.2% after its new iPhone 17 launch underwhelmed.
The inflation surprise, coupled with soft labor market data, fueled bets the Fed could cut rates by 50 basis points next week instead of the expected quarter-point move.
Source: Trading Economics