Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange watch a press conference by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh on July 29. [Reuters]
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange watch a press conference by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh on July 29. [Reuters]

New York stocks closed mixed Wednesday local time as data showing a slowdown in last month's inflation kept the market in a narrow range.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.58 points, or 0.04 percent, to finish at 53,770.27.

The S&P 500 rose 20.30 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 7,748.50. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 143.04 points, or 0.54 percent, to end at 26,588.49.

Stocks opened higher as investors took comfort in consumer price index data that came in line with market expectations. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the all-items CPI rose 0.1 percent from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis in July and 3.4 percent from a year earlier.

Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent month-on-month and 2.5 percent year-on-year — both matching forecasts. The readings marked a further easing from the near-4 percent pace that had previously run well above the Federal Reserve's inflation target.

With inflation concerns easing somewhat, the probability of a Fed rate hike next month also declined. The CME Group's FedWatch tool showed the odds of a rate increase at 48.4 percent before Wednesday's CPI release, falling to 40.4 percent afterward.

Prospects for a resolution to the US-Iran war remain unclear. Turkey's state news agency Anadolu, citing Pakistani government sources, reported Wednesday that both sides had conveyed to mediators their agreement to extend the truce deadline, and that the two parties were exchanging messages to determine the length of the extension.

Russia's TASS news agency subsequently cited an anonymous senior Iranian official who denied that any discussions on extending a truce had taken place.


kate01@heraldcorp.com