The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell Wednesday as inflation came in worse than feared. The Fed minutes are due and comes as a senior Federal Reserve official touted tapering. Apple (AAPL) fell again, while JPMorgan Chase (JMP) tumbled on earnings.
A few stocks managed to make bullish moves despite the uncertain action. Datadog (DDOG) is sitting in a new buy zone, while LKQ Corp. (LKQ), Boyd Gaming (BYD) and Procept Biorobotics (PRCT) passed buy points.
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Stocks were pressured as new inflation data came in worse than expected. The Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.4% in September, up from 0.3% in August and above Econoday’s forecast for a 0.3% increase.
On a year-over-year basis, the consumer price index rose 5.4%, slightly higher than estimates for 5.3%. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 4 basis points to 1.54%.
Fed Minutes Due As Tapering Pressure Builds
The market is gearing up for the forthcoming release of the Fed minutes from the September policy meeting. They are due to come out at 2 p.m. ET.
It will give investors clearer insight into the Federal Open Market Committee’s thoughts on interest rate hikes and bond purchase tapering. The group is led by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
The minutes come after St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard once again struck a hawkish tone on tapering. He told CNBC the central bank should be aggressive in how it approaches dialing back its monthly bond-buying program.
“I’ve been advocating trying to get finished with the taper process by the end of the first quarter next year,” he said.
Bullard also said he believes there is only a 50-50 chance current inflation pressures are transitory.
Nasdaq Gains Amid Mixed Action
The Nasdaq was leading the main indexes, rising around 0.5%. Crowdstrike (CRWD) was the top performer, rising more than 6%, with Zoom Video Communications (ZM) not far behind.
The S&P 500 posted a mild gain of about 0.2%. Semiconductor stock Xilinx (XLNX) was the top performer here, rising about 4%. Moderna (MRNA) also stood out with a gain of almost 4%.
U.S. Stock Market Today Overview |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Index | Symbol | Price | Gain/Loss | % Change |
| Dow Jones | (0DJIA) | 34345.26 | -33.08 | -0.10 |
| S&P 500 | (0S&P5) | 4357.03 | +6.38 | +0.15 |
| Nasdaq | (0NDQC ) | 14536.53 | +70.60 | +0.49 |
| Russell 2000 | (IWM) | 222.02 | +0.50 | +0.23 |
| IBD 50 | (FFTY) | 47.71 | +0.62 | +1.32 |
Last Update: 1:28 PM ET 10/13/2021 |
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The S&P 500 sectors were mixed, with utilities and materials leading. Financials were lagging most.
Small caps were battling back into positive territory, with the Russell 2000 up 0.2%.
Growth stocks were managing to give the bears a bloody nose. The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) was up 1.3%.
Dow Jones Today: Apple Stock Falls, JPMorgan Earnings Disappoint
The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower.
Apple stock was one of the worst laggards, falling around 1%. The stock was hit after Bloomberg reported it will likely have to cut its 2021 iPhone production goal of 90 million handsets…
Read More: Dow Jones Falls As Inflation Surges; Fed Minutes Due As Pressure