Stocks fell on Wall Street Wednesday, led by more drops in technology companies after a report on inflation came in worse than feared.
The S&P 500 fell 1.6% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 3.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less, 1%. Treasury yields initially jumped following the inflation report but later fell back. Wall Street has been transfixed on the nation's high inflation, and where it's heading, because it's causing the Federal Reserve to yank the supports it propped under markets for most of the pandemic.
U.S. crude oil prices rose 6%.
Wednesday’s report from the U.S. Labor Department showed inflation slowed a touch in April, down to 8.3% from 8.5% in March. Investors also found some glass-half-full signals in the data that inflation may be peaking and set to ease further, the Associated Press reported.