U.S. stocks rose Wednesday, boosted by a cooler than expected May inflation print ahead of the conclusion of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting.
At 06:35 ET (10:35 GMT), Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 360 points, or 0.9%, S&P 500 rose 44 points, or 0.8%, and NASDAQ Composite rose 210 points, or 1.2%
Fed meeting, CPI data due
U.S. consumer prices increased by less than expected on an annualized basis in May, as the consumer price index rose by 3.3% last month, decelerating slightly from 3.4% in April. Month-on-month, the reading slowed to 0.0% from 0.3%.
This data pointed to a possible easing in price pressures that could influence how Federal Reserve policymakers see the future path of interest rates.
The Fed concludes its two-day meeting later in the session, and is widely expected to keep interest rates steady.
Markets are hopeful that the Fed flags potential rate cuts, especially after peers, particularly the European Central Bank, began trimming rates earlier in June.
Still, the general consensus is that the Fed will only begin cutting rates by September, as the U.S. labor market remains strong and inflation expectations elevated.
Oracle surges on AI partnerships
The tech market remained in focus Wednesday, with Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) stock rose 9% after the computer technology group announced two new partnerships with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Cloud in a bid to extend the reach of its AI infrastructure, while also unveiling a healthy forecast for revenue growth in its 2025 fiscal year.
Elsewhere, Rubrik (NYSE:RBRK) stock rose over 3% after the cloud data management company beat first-quarter expectations on revenue.
Nio (NYSE:NIO) ADRs fell 1.2% after the European Union said it would slap higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, of up to 38%.
Crude boosted by demand optimism
Crude prices rose Wednesday, boosted by the U.S. inflation data as well as upbeat views of global demand.
By 09:35 ET, the U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 1.7% higher at $79.20 per barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 1.6% to $83.25 per barrel.
This overshadowed a bearish monthly report from the International Energy Agency, in which the Paris-based agency cut its global crude demand growth forecast for 2024 by 100,000 barrels per day to 960,000 bpd, citing sluggish consumption in developed countries.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute, released on Tuesday, showed that U.S. oil inventories shrank more than expected last week, ramping up hopes that U.S. fuel consumption was picking up with the onset of the travel-heavy summer season.
The official weekly inventories report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration is due later in the session.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
