US Stocks Stabilize as Inflation Report Beats Expectations

The US stock market stabilized on Wednesday after a report showed inflation in the United States was not as bad as expected last month. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% and is close to finishing September with a small gain instead of a loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 81 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher.

The better-than-expected data helped some Treasury yields pull back a bit, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury edging down to 5.25% from 5.26% late Tuesday. Shorter-term yields, such as for the two-year Treasury, sank more as traders pared bets that the Federal Reserve will raise its main interest rate next month to get inflation further under control.

The report followed others from earlier in the month about inflation during August, but this is the one that the Federal Reserve prefers to use. The 30-year Treasury yield, which takes into account expectations for inflation and economic growth many years down the line, rose to 5.61% from 5.59% late Tuesday.