US exchanges start Wednesday with declines despite slowdown in consumer inflation
Date
9/12/2024 4:18:48 AM
(MENAFN) On Wednesday, major US stock exchanges began the day with declines despite data showing a notable slowdown in annual consumer inflation for August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 452 points, or 1.1 percent, to 40,283 by 9:55 AM EDT (1355GMT). Similarly, the S&P 500 fell 34 points, or 0.62 percent, settling at 5,460, while the nasdaq Composite decreased 10 points, or 0.06 percent, to 17,014.
Consumer inflation data released by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated a 2.5 percent rise in August, marking the slowest annual increase since February 2021. This figure represents a significant deceleration from the 2.9 percent year-on-year increase recorded in July. However, despite the overall slowdown in inflation, the core Consumer Price Index (CPI), which excludes volatile food and energy prices, showed a faster increase than expected. Core CPI rose 0.3 percent in August from the previous month, surpassing the anticipated 0.2 percent and accelerating from the 0.2 percent increase in July.
The VIX volatility index, known as the "fear index," increased by 2.4 percent to 19.57, reflecting heightened market uncertainty. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury bond rose slightly by 0.03 percent to 3.645 percent. The US dollar index also saw a minor uptick of 0.1 percent to 101.72, while the euro weakened by 0.1 percent against the dollar, trading at USD1.1010.
In commodities, precious metals had mixed results: gold fell by 0.3 percent to USD2,509 per ounce, while silver saw a modest increase of 0.2 percent to USD28.45 per ounce. Oil prices rose by over 1 percent, with Brent crude, the global benchmark, reaching USD69.89 per barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate trading at USD66.56 per barrel.
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