US open: Stocks higher following CPI reading

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Wednesday as market participants digested April's all-important consumer price index report.

As of 1550 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.52% at 39,761.91, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.68% to 5,282.44 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.75% firmer at 16,635.21.

The Dow opened 203.81 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session as investors thumbed over last month's producer price index, which revealed that US producer prices rebounded more than expected last month after a downwardly revised fall in March, with the annual rate of inflation rising to its highest level in a year.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said its producer price index increased by 0.5% month-on-month in April, compared with a downwardly revised fall of 0.1% in March, more than expected and bumping the annual rate of inflation up to its highest level in a year.

However, attention quickly turned to today's consumer price index, which revealed consumer goods and services prices increased 0.3% in April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, principally due to higher oil prices and housing costs. However, the increase was below last month's and short of the 0.4% forecast by economists.

The so-called core rate of inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was up 0.03% on March's reading for the smallest rise in four months. The report also showed inflation rising 3.4% year-on-year, down slightly from 3.5% in the prior month, while core CPI climbed 3.6% in the 12 months ended April, down from 3.8% in the prior month for the lowest reading since April 2021 but well above the Federal Reserve's target of 2% annual inflation.

Elsewhere on the macro front, US mortgage applications rose 0.5% in the week ended 10 May, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, following on from a 2.6% jump in the previous week and came alongside a 10 basis point reduction in the average mortgage. Applications to refinance a mortgage jumped by 5% from the previous week, while applications to purchase a home dropped by 2%.

On another note, American consumers reined in their spending last month, especially on motor vehicles and parts, as well as online. But economists were quick to point to payback from the expiry of a one-off Amazon sales event as a key - and therefore temporary - factor behind the decline. According to the Department of Commerce, in seasonally adjusted terms retail sales volumes were flat month-on-month at $705.18bn (consensus: 0.4%).

Moving on, the New York Fed's Empire State manufacturing index fell to -15.6 in May, down from 14.3 in April and below consensus estimates for an improvement to -10.0, suggesting that business activity in New York State had declined for a sixth straight month.

Still on data, US business inventories fell by 0.1% month-on-month in March, according to the Census Bureau, following a 0.3% increase in February.

Finally, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index fell to 45.0 in May, the lowest reading in four months, down from 51 in April and below market expectations for a flat reading to mark the first decrease in builder sentiment since November 2023, principally due to mortgage rates consistently hovering above 7% for the past month.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $282.98 2.23%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $347.37 2.02%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $315.37 1.27%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $520.36 1.26%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $130.24 1.23%
3M Co. (MMM) $101.28 1.20%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $189.65 1.19%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $462.67 0.92%
Visa Inc. (V) $280.10 0.85%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $40.80 0.77%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $102.51 -2.70%
Boeing Co. (BA) $176.96 -2.10%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $18.03 -1.74%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $161.21 -1.47%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $215.79 -0.83%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $92.28 -0.55%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $59.38 -0.45%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $201.04 -0.23%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $59.76 -0.16%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $31.04 -0.03%

S&P 500 - Risers

D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $154.36 4.30%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $85.49 4.15%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $206.85 3.89%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $540.59 3.74%
AES Corp. (AES) $21.08 3.72%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $168.23 3.63%
Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (EW) $89.28 3.26%
American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $192.79 3.12%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $157.76 3.00%
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $322.90 2.95%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $127.70 -5.73%
Synchrony Financial (SYF) $43.80 -3.05%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $60.33 -2.98%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $64.47 -2.72%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $102.51 -2.70%
Foot Locker Inc. (FL) $22.31 -2.64%
Kohls Corp. (KSS) $26.03 -2.60%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $52.27 -2.26%
Helmerich & Payne Inc. (HP) $38.17 -2.20%
Halliburton Co. (HAL) $36.74 -2.18%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Vodafone Group Plc ADS (VOD) $9.59 4.35%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $540.59 3.74%
Intuitive Surgical Inc. (ISRG) $395.05 2.83%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $936.28 2.49%
Biogen Inc (BIIB) $232.51 2.48%
QUALCOMM Inc. (QCOM) $193.35 2.32%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $649.84 2.27%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $572.28 2.26%
Western Digital Corp. (WDC) $75.19 2.24%
Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $98.14 2.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.06 -3.47%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $60.33 -2.98%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $174.08 -1.95%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $113.35 -1.93%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $183.52 -1.90%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.78 -1.75%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $18.03 -1.74%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $55.03 -1.20%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $63.91 -1.04%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $974.92 -0.99%