Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq rise as CPI remains sticky, Fed rate-hike bets jump
US stocks rose on Friday as investors digested the Consumer Price Index data, which showed inflation remained sticky and cemented bets that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates next week.
The Dow Industrial Average (^DJI), S&P 500 (^GSPC), and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) each climbed roughly 1%. The move comes after those indexes have faced a four-day losing streak.
Investors turned their attention to the Consumer Price Index, the last piece of inflation data before Federal Reserve policymakers convene next week. Overall prices rose 0.4% on a monthly basis and 3.4% on an annual basis, which were in line with economists’ expectations and slightly hotter than July’s reading.
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Read more: What is inflation, and how does it affect you?
While inflation has trended lower since May, it remains well above the Fed’s 2% goal. The recent spike in oil prices has only fueled inflation concerns after Brent crude prices (BZ=F) topped $108 per barrel before easing back on Friday and diesel reached its highest price ever, at $6 per gallon.
The increase in oil prices, as well as Friday’s CPI report, prompted traders to ramp up their bets that the Fed will raise interest rates this month. Markets are now pricing in a roughly 87% chance the Fed raises interest rates by 25 basis points at the FOMC meeting next week, according to the CME’s Fedwatch tool. That’s up from 72% a day ago and 50% a week ago.
Oracle (ORCL) shares trimmed gains after popping over 2% on Friday after the database software company reported strong cloud computing growth in the latest quarter.