NEW YORK, Feb 14 — Wall Street stocks retreated early today following a US consumer price report that showed only limited moderation in the inflation that has pressured central bank interest rate increases.
The consumer price index reading rose 6.4 per cent in January from a year ago, according to US Labour Department data.
Although this marks the smallest annual increase since October 2021, this level is well above policymakers’ two per cent target.
“The key takeaway from the report is that there has been a clear deceleration from peak inflation,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.
“However, the inflation rates are not nearly low enough to suggest the Fed would even be thinking about cutting rates this year.”
About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5 percent at 34,050.26.
The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.5 per cent to 4,115.82, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.6 per cent to 11,817.47.
The report is expected to keep the Federal Reserve on a rate-hiking path. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note, a proxy for Fed interest rates, rose today following the report. — AFP
