Stocks were mixed Wednesday as market participants digested a hotter-than-expected inflation report ahead of the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about 70 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively.

Here's how the market settled on Wednesday:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +0.12% or +5.54 points to 4,467.44

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): -0.20% or -70.46 points to 34,575.53

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +0.29% or +39.96 points to 13,813.58

In the spotlight, August's consumer price index (CPI) reading rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% for the month and 3.7% from a year ago, according to the Labor Department's report, with the annual reading coming in slightly above analyst estimates. So-called core CPI, which excludes the cost of food and energy, rose by 0.3% and 4.3%, respectively, topping analyst's monthly estimate.

Policymakers usually focus more on core CPI as it provides a better gauge on how inflation is impacting consumers over the long term. Wall Street is largely expecting the central bank to hold interest rates at their current range at next week's meeting. However, 40% of market analysts are anticipating one final hike in November, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Elsewhere, American Airlines (AAL  ) and Spirit Airlines (SAVE  ) shares fell Wednesday after the two airlines trimmed their profit forecasts amid higher fuel and labor costs. American said it expects adjusted earnings per share between $0.20 and $0.30 in the third quarter, down from a previous forecast of as much as $0.95 per share. Spirit expects negative margins of as much as 15.5% in its current quarter. Shares of United Airlines (UAL  ) and Southwest Airlines (LUV  ) also fell during the session.

Shares of prominent COVID vaccine makers Moderna (MRNA  ) and Pfizer (PFE  ) rose Wednesday after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended for all Americans ages six months and older receive an updated booster shot ahead of the fall and winter seasons.

Citigroup (C  ) CEO Jane Fraser announced the bank is undergoing a corporate reorganization on Wednesday in efforts to reduce management layers and advance decisions. The firm will be divided into five main business lines from the previous two and the changes will include an unspecified number of job cuts.

Google (GOOGL  ) also is issuing job cuts for its global recruiting organization, CNBC reports, in effort to pullback on near-term hiring. In January, Google announced it was cutting about 6% of its full-time workforce accord the company.

"It's not something that was an easy decision to make, and it definitely isn't a conversation any of us wanted to have again this year," said Brian Ong, recruiting vice president at Google, in a virtual meeting with employees on Wednesday, quoted by CNBC. "Given the base of hiring that we've received the next several quarters, it's the right thing to do overall."

For Thursday, market participants will react to another inflation reading of producer prices and U.S. retail sales for August.