US open: Stocks lower following hotter-than-expected CPI print

Wall Street stocks were firmly in the red early on Wednesday as market participants digested a hotter-than-expected March consumer price index.

As of 1515 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.08% at 38,464.72, while the S&P 500 lost 0.91% to 5,162.58 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.92% weaker at 16,155.99.

The Dow opened 418.95 points lower on Wednesday, easily extending modest losses recorded in the previous session.

Wednesday's primary focus was inflation data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which revealed that in seasonally adjusted terms, its consumer price index increased at a month-on-month pace of 0.4% in March. The increase was more than expected amid gains in the cost of energy, clothing and medical care services. Year-on-year, CPI was ahead by 3.5%, having risen by 3.2% during the previous month. Core CPI meanwhile was up by 0.4% over the month, against a consensus forecast for 0.3%.

"Financial markets are not going to like the above-consensus gain in the headline and core CPI," chipped in Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics. "Some tightening in financial market conditions may do some of the work for the Fed, allowing it to sit on its hands potentially longer than we anticipate."

Elsewhere on the macro front, minutes from the Federal Open Markets Committee's latest policy meeting will be published at 1900 BST, with traders likely to thumb through the notes in search of any clues as to the central bank's thought process moving forward.

In the corporate space, Delta shares flew higher on the back of solid first-quarter earnings that came in ahead of expectations, while WD-40 traded lower after falling short of revenue forecasts for the second quarter.

Dow Jones - Risers

Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $224.21 0.17%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $59.88 0.14%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $162.04 0.03%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $156.13 -0.34%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $126.07 -0.51%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $300.50 -0.62%
Visa Inc. (V) $274.83 -0.68%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $456.11 -0.79%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $187.73 -0.83%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $18.33 -4.44%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $352.10 -2.58%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $400.42 -2.51%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.07 -1.88%
3M Co. (MMM) $90.91 -1.83%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $265.96 -1.63%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $89.55 -1.59%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $58.90 -1.37%
Boeing Co. (BA) $175.76 -1.32%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $367.00 -1.32%

S&P 500 - Risers

Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $1.28 2.39%
McKesson Corp. (MCK) $537.31 1.90%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $868.00 1.69%
FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) $26.58 1.49%
Delta Airlines Inc. (DAL) $47.97 1.37%
HF Sinclair Corporation (DINO) $61.86 1.29%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $73.69 1.26%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $43.96 1.19%
Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) $214.10 0.93%
Everest Group (EG) $374.96 0.93%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) $27.63 -7.84%
Sl Green Realty Corp. (SLG) $51.26 -6.85%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $1.37 -6.51%
VF Corp. (VFC) $13.15 -5.73%
Extra Space Storage (EXR) $144.02 -5.49%
Sba Communications Corp. (SBAC) $207.44 -5.11%
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE) $123.19 -4.95%
ProLogis (PLD) $120.07 -4.90%
American Tower Corp (Reit) (AMT) $183.43 -4.86%
Boston Properties Inc. (BXP) $62.18 -4.78%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $868.00 1.69%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $123.62 0.81%
Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $519.28 0.46%
Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $211.15 0.35%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $52.09 0.25%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $26.76 0.24%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $49.06 0.11%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $5.77 0.00%
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALXN) $0.00 0.00%
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) $0.00 0.00%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.96 -6.84%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $3.29 -4.53%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $18.33 -4.44%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $16.73 -3.80%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $17.34 -3.56%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $503.28 -3.18%
Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) $263.43 -2.96%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $31.88 -2.95%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $171.94 -2.79%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $89.12 -2.78%

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com