US stocks rise after stable inflation reading

US Stocks. Photo: Aljazeera

Wall Street stocks rose early Wednesday following a stable US inflation reading and data showing better hiring than expected.

Government data showed the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge stood at 3.4 per cent year-on-year in August, unchanged from the month before after a revision to the July data.

The report, according to AFP on Wednesday, revealed lower price increases than expected, though the inflation reading is still well above the Fed’s target level.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1 per cent at 51,386.46.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 7,699.89, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.6 per cent to 26,958.66.

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“Any good news on inflation right now is understandably interpreted as good news,” said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers.

Private sector job growth came in at 90,000 last month, according to payroll firm ADP, up from 38,000 the month before and well above market expectations.

The US Commerce Department strongly revised its estimate for second-quarter GDP growth in the world’s largest economy, moving it up by 0.7 percentage points to 2.2 percent.

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