In This Story
Stocks rose on Wednesday as the July inflation rate met expectations, sparking hopes of interest rate cuts next month. By the end of the day, the Dow gained 0.6%, or 242 points, to 40,008. The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 0.03%, while the S&P 500 popped up 0.3%.
According to the Labor Department report released on Wednesday morning, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a broad-based measure of prices for goods and services, increased 0.2% in July, bringing the 12-month inflation rate to 2.9%. This is in line with the expectations of economists. Similarly, the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased by 0.2% monthly and 3.2% annually, meeting expectations as well.
As per the report, the annual inflation rate is at its lowest level since March 2021, while core inflation has reached its lowest point since April 2021.
This is encouraging for investors, as wholesale inflation has also slowed, fueling hopes for a potential reduction in interest rates. The Producer Price Index (PPI) report released on Tuesday showed that it increased by just 0.1% in July, falling short of the 0.2% forecasted by economists.
Google loses a big antitrust lawsuit
Google GOOGL+1.44% lost a consequential antitrust battle last week over the dominance of its search engine— but it could be just the beginning of major upheaval at the tech giant. The Department of Justice is now weighing how to tackle Google’s outsize position in search, The New York Times reports, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter. The shares were down by 2.3% as the day ended.
Nvidia adds more than $400 billion to the market cap
In the last four trading days, Nvidia NVDA+2.88% stock has climbed nearly 19%, recovering more than $400 billion in market value from the roughly $900 billion that was wiped out by a retreat from the stock, hastened by last week’s market rout. By closing time, the stock was up 1.6%.
Intel sells its stake in chip maker arm
Intel INTC+2.19% sold its entire stake in British semiconductor firm Arm Holdings ARM+3.73% last quarter amid a cost-cutting push. Regulatory documents filed Tuesday show the Santa Clara, California-based tech firm no longer has any holdings in Arm. As of May, Intel held roughly 1.18 million shares of the company. The sale potentially raised about $147 million, according to calculations by Reuters based an average price of Arm’s stock of $124 between April and June. By the end of the day, the stock was down over 2%.
Victoria’s Secret hires a new CEO
The stock price of Victoria’s Secret surged on Wednesday after the company announced that it nabbed the CEO of its competitor Savage X Fenty, Hillary Super, to be its next chief executive. Victoria’s Secret shares were up by over 16% by the end of the day.
Super has nearly three decades of experience with major brands like American Eagle Outfitters, Guess, and Gap. In 2023, after Rihanna, the pop star and billionaire founder of Fenty, stepped down from Savage, Super became CEO of the company. She previously served as the Global CEO of Anthropologie Group.
–Rocio Fabbro contributed to this article