IFP:CC - Inflation Beats Projections Stocks Wilt
Stocks moved lower Thursday, shrugging off a fresh round of inflation data that reflected an uptick in consumer prices for December.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 206.15 points to break for lunch Thursday at 37,489.58.
The S&P 500 sagged 34.4 points to 4,749.05.
The NASDAQ gave back 133.43 points to 14,836.22.
Investors are also eyeing the kickoff of the fourth-quarter earnings season, which will see banking behemoths Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase report results Friday.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin ETFs rose on their first day of trading on Thursday as crypto prices also edged up. Bitcoin briefly hit the $49,000 mark earlier Thursday before falling to just above $46,000.
December's consumer price index report came out slightly higher-than-expected, reflecting a 0.3% increase in consumer prices for the month, pushing the annual rate to 3.4%. Economists polled by Dow Jones had predicted that the CPI rose 0.2% in December and 3.2% on a year-over-year basis.
Core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy prices, came out in line with expectations, however, pointing to persistent—yet easing—inflation pressures. The data released on Thursday suggests that future interest rate cuts may be slower to come.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were static, keeping yields at Wednesday's 4.04%.
Oil prices rumbled ahead $1.65 to $73.02 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $7.30 to $2,020.50.