Stocks slipped lower on Wednesday as investors weighed fresh inflation data and a readout of the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes against expectations for the government's Consumer Price Index report due out Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked down nearly 30 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite were about 0.3% and 0.1% lower, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:
S&P 500 Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
Nasdaq Composite Index
Wall Street traded choppily on Wednesday after the Bureau of Labor Statistics' producer price Index (PPI) rose 0.4% for the month of September, following August's decrease of 0.2%. On a 12-month basis, PPI rose 8.5% last month, slightly decelerating from August's 8.7% gain.
Stripping away more volatile food, energy and trade services prices, so-called core-PPI rose 0.4% for the month and 5.6% from a year ago, with the latter matching August's increase.
"Prices remain elevated so it shouldn't be a surprise to see producer goods and services rise. Keep in mind the increase is still below what we were seeing consistently month after month earlier this year," wrote Mike Loewengart, head of model portfolio construction at Morgan Stanley Global Investment Office, on Wednesday. "No doubt the Fed still has its work cut out for them, and if tomorrow's CPI read is hot, don't be surprised to see some investors come to grips with how long the road to tamer inflation may be."
Later on in the session, investors digested the central bank's September meeting minutes, which showed the Fed expects to continue its rate-hiking campaign and keep interest rates high until inflation shows signs of cooling.
However, one comment in the minutes boosted optimism that the Fed was prepared to loosen its currently tight policy if it poses increased risk to financial markets.
"Several participants noted that, particularly in the current highly uncertain global economic and financial environment, it would be important to calibrate the pace of further policy tightening with the aim of mitigating the risk of significant adverse effects on the economic outlook," the minutes said.
Also keeping market participants anxious is the start of the third-quarter earnings season this week, with reports expected to show weakness due to continuously high inflationary pressures, increasing interest rates, and a stronger U.S. dollar. Big financial companies like JPMorgan
On Wednesday, PepsiCo
"The consumer is still very healthy in terms of our particular category," CEO Ramon Laguarta said during the company's earnings call Wednesday. "Our brands are being stretched to higher price points and the consumers are following us."
