Stocks moved modestly higher on Wednesday as investors tried to find their footing after the biggest one-day drop in more than two years.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered from the trauma of Tuesday's near 4% decline, gaining 25.64 points Wednesday at 31,130.61
The S&P 500 reclaimed 7.28 points to 3,939.97.
The NASDAQ Composite hiked 42.5 points to 11,676.08.
Chevron and Merck were among the top stocks in the Dow, gaining more than 1.5% each. Apple added 0.5%.
The Dow sank more than 1,200 points Tuesday, or nearly 4%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.3%. The NASDAQ Composite dropped 5.2%. It was the biggest one-day slide for all three averages since June 2020.
The market moves came after August's consumer price index report showed headline inflation rose 0.1% on a monthly basis despite a drop in gas prices.
The hot inflation report left questions over whether stocks could go back to their June lows or fall even further. It also spurred some fears that the Federal Reserve could potentially hike even higher than the 75 basis points markets are pricing in.
Treasury prices fell slightly, raising yields to 3.43% from Tuesday's 3.42%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite direction.
Oil prices surged $1.92 to $89.23 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped three dollars to $1,714.40 U.S. an ounce.