Wall St rises as inflation data meets estimates

December 10 (Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes edged up on Friday after data showed consumer prices rose in line with estimates last month, relieving investors concerned about the aggressive monetary policy tightening of the Federal Reserve.

The Department of Labor report showed that consumer prices in the United States accelerated 6.8% in the 12 months to November, their highest level since 1982, while the cost of goods and services increased significantly in a context of supply constraints.

The so-called core consumer price index (CPI) jumped 4.9% year-on-year after gaining 4.6% in October. Read more

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI to rise 6.8% and the core CPI 4.9%.

“Today’s rise in inflation in the United States was widely expected, but it confirms that price pressures continue to intensify but also to spread,” said Jai Malhi, market strategist worldwide at JP Morgan Asset Management.

“This release will not deter (the Fed) from speeding up the process (of typing), allowing the central bank to raise rates earlier next year if necessary.”

Seven of S&P’s top 11 sectors advanced, with Defensive Consumer Goods (.SPLRCS), Real Estate (.SPLRCR) and Utilities (.SPLRCU) significantly outperforming, suggesting a caveat ahead of the policy meeting. the Fed next week.

“Right now we may be seeing investors take a more defensive stance looking for a bit of refuge until we know next Wednesday what the Fed is going to do,” said Sam Stovall, strategist. chief investment officer at CFRA Research in New York.

The US central bank’s policy meeting will be watched closely for comments on the trajectory of interest rate hikes next year as well as the slowing pace of bond purchases.

A Reuters poll of economists predicted that the Fed would hike rates by 25 basis points to 0.25-0.50% in the third quarter of next year, followed by another in the fourth quarter. However, most saw the risk of a hike coming even sooner. Read more

As of 12:24 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was up 66.47 points, or 0.19%, to 35,821.16, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 24.22 points, or 0.52%, to 4,691.67, and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) gained 46.67 points, or 0.30%, to 15,564.04.

Shares of Oracle Corp (ORCL.N) jumped 16% after the enterprise software maker forecast a bullish outlook for the third quarter. Read more

The S&P 500 Index (.SPX) fell 5.2% from a record high on Nov. 22 as investors digested Jerome Powell’s appointment as Fed chairman, his hawkish commentary to combat the soaring price pressures and the discovery of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

A positive update from Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech on their vaccine offering some protection against the latest variant has pushed the top three indices for gains of over 3% each this week. The S&P is now down 1.2% from its all-time high.

Large-cap tech companies like Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) gained 1.3% and 1.7%, respectively, to give the major indices the biggest boost.

Broadcom Inc (AVGO.O) gained 8.0% as the semiconductor company sees first-quarter revenue above Wall Street expectations and announced a $ 10 billion share buyback plan. Read more

Falling issues outnumbered advances for a 1.18-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.50-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P Index recorded 30 new 52-week highs and a new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 22 new highs and 113 new lows.

Reporting by Devik Jain, Shreyashi Sanyal and Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel

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