US open: Stocks rally following February CPI report

Wall Street stocks were firmly in the green early on Wednesday as some modest inflation figures offset concerns around elevated bond yields.

As of 1530 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.89% at 32,115.87, while the S&P 500 was 0.58% firmer at 3,897.95 and the Nasdaq Composite started out the session 0.60% stronger at 13,152.47.

The Dow Jones opened 283.13 points higher on Wednesday, pushing the blue-chip index to a new record high.

Wednesday's main focus was February's US consumer price index, which increased 0.4% in February on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.3% in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The consumer price index, which measures the change in prices paid by consumers for goods and services, has now increased 1.7% year-on-year before seasonal adjustment, a larger increase than the 1.4% reported for the period twelve months ended 31 January.

However, Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdson said markets will be happy to see a third straight modest core CPI print "for now" but cautioned that today's data didn't tell us anything about the post-Covid outlook, which Shepherdson said would initially be "a story about margin-rebuilding in the services sector".

Traders were also keeping a keen eye on the yield on the 10-Year Treasury note early in the session, trading slightly below recent highs at 1.54% ahead of today's auction of $38.0bn in notes at 1800 GMT.

Also in focus, House Democrats looked set to pass Joe Biden's $1.9trn stimulus bill Wednesday morning, with Biden expected to sign the bill over the weekend and checks of up to $1,400 per eligible American on track to start going out before the end of the month.

Elsewhere on the macro front, applications to refinance a home loan fell 5% week-on-week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the first year-on-year drop since March 2019, as the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances increased to 3.26% from 3.23%.

Still to come, last month's US Government monthly budget statement was slated for release at 1900 GMT.

In corporate news, Tupperware stock was in the red early on Wednesday after full-year profits fell short of expectations despite posting improved revenues, while Bumble, Oracle and AMC Entertainment were all scheduled to report earnings after the close.