US open: Stocks mixed following July CPI reading

Wall Street stocks were mixed at the open on Wednesday as market participants digested key inflation data.

As of 1520 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.16% at 39.829.77, while the S&P 500 lost 0.19% to 5,424.22 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 0.66% weaker at 17,074.17.

The Dow opened 64.13 points higher on Wednesday, extending gains recorded in the previous session.

Wednesday's primary focus will be last month's consumer price index reading, which revealed the cost of living in the US rose at its slowest pace in over three years last month. According to the Department of Labor, the consumer price index increased at a month-on-month clip of 0.2% at both the headline and core levels, as expected by economists. The annual rate of increase in headline CPI, however, slipped from 3.0% for June to 2.9% in July - its slowest pace since March 2021.

Wednesday's CPI reading comes a day after the Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that producer prices increased 0.1% to 144.67 points in July, up from 144.53 in June but short of preliminary estimates for a 0.2% month-on-month uptick. On an annualised basis, PPI was up 2.2%.

Elsewhere on the macro front, mortgage applications surged 16.8% in the week ended 9 August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the sharpest week-on-week increase since January 2023. Applications to refinance a home soared 35%, while applications to purchase a home were up a much more modest 3%.

In the corporate space, gambling giant Flutter was in the green in early trading after posting Q2 results that came in ahead of expectations, while Mars confirmed on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Pringles and Cheez-It maker Kellanova in a $35.9bn deal, and Victoria's Secret shares rose after announcing the appointment of its new CEO and posting preliminary quarterly results that came in ahead of previous forecasts.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $10.61 2.07%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $354.21 1.18%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $415.26 1.03%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $212.91 0.96%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $19.96 0.81%
3M Co. (MMM) $126.33 0.79%
American Express Co. (AXP) $240.84 0.77%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $45.35 0.55%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $576.91 0.46%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $158.93 0.34%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $111.76 -2.30%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $78.02 -0.61%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $489.54 -0.49%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $52.60 -0.30%
McDonald's Corp. (MCD) $269.58 -0.27%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $40.67 -0.26%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $321.66 -0.21%
Boeing Co. (BA) $168.53 -0.14%
Visa Inc. (V) $260.11 -0.01%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $338.77 -0.01%

S&P 500 - Risers

Kellanova (K) $80.01 7.40%
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $73.26 4.52%
Allstate Corp (The) (ALL) $179.08 4.14%
Progressive Corp. (PGR) $231.01 3.91%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $224.75 3.81%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $25.15 3.75%
Cardinal Health Inc. (CAH) $106.26 3.59%
Morgan Stanley (MS) $100.18 3.58%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $98.91 3.48%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $660.10 3.38%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Albemarle Corp. (ALB) $72.95 -5.53%
Gap Inc. (GPS) $22.46 -2.81%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $471.49 -2.63%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $159.37 -2.59%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $161.14 -2.58%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $111.76 -2.30%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $143.84 -2.06%
Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI) $141.43 -1.92%
Nucor Corp. (NUE) $140.19 -1.88%
Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $7.95 -1.73%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Workday, Inc. (WDAY) $220.39 4.13%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $224.75 3.81%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $25.15 3.75%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $98.91 3.48%
Netflix Inc. (NFLX) $660.10 3.38%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $3,600.52 3.23%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $155.38 3.15%
Expedia Group Inc. (EXPE) $132.38 3.12%
KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $786.74 2.88%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $330.25 2.47%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $0.59 -2.70%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $471.49 -2.63%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $159.37 -2.59%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $161.14 -2.58%
NetEase Inc. Ads (NTES) $87.44 -2.33%
Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $41.38 -2.12%
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (TTWO) $143.84 -2.06%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $2.96 -1.66%
JD.com, Inc. (JD) $25.86 -1.30%
Baidu Inc. (BIDU) $84.73 -1.29%