© Reuters
Investing.com — The Dow Jones closed higher on Wednesday after data showed inflation continuing to decline and a rebound in Aim propelled retailers higher after better-than-expected third-quarter results.
At 16:00 ET (21:00 GMT), the was up 163 points or 0.5%, while the was up 0.2% and the was up 0.1%.
Inflation shows new signs of cooling, retail sales slow as consumers rein in spending
slowed to a 1.3% pace in the 12 months through October from a 2.2% rise in September, missing expectations for a 1.9% rise, adding more optimism that the deflationary trend will continue for just a day after an increase was also shown for October. a deeper than expected slowdown.
Optimism about an ongoing slowdown in inflation continued to support bets that the rate hike cycle is over, which could pave the way for rate cuts starting in the first half of next year.
Adding to bets on earlier Fed cuts, October fell 0.1%, missing expectations for a 0.3% drop, although economists pointed to the sharp decline due to strong retail sales in the third quarter. .
“The consumer spent money like there was no tomorrow in the third quarter, and October retail sales data suggests they generally paused at the start of the fourth quarter,” Jefferies said in a note.
Target rally in Q3 outpaces retail sparks
Retail giant Target (NYSE beat earnings expectations as comparable sales fell 4.9%. Its fourth-quarter guidance was in line with expectations. Its shares closed down nearly 18%.
Retailers rose more than 2%, although discount retailer TJX Companies Inc (NYSE , which was down 3%, bucked the upward trend despite reporting third-quarter results that beat both top and bottom lines, with a Same-store sales increase of 6%.
Beyond earnings-related moves, retailers were also supported by a more than 3% rise in VF Corporation (NYSE:) after JPMorgan upgraded its rating on the apparel company to neutral from underweight, citing a improvement in risk reward.
tech stocks take a breather after recent crash
tech stocks took a breather from the previous day’s rally amid weakness from Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ , although Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ closed flat despite launching its own chip, Maia 100, for ai that is expected to compete with Nvidia as Demand for hardware to drive artificial intelligence accelerates.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ , which closed at an all-time high the previous day, fell 2% to snap its 10-day winning streak.
Oil falls ahead of EIA inventories
Energy stocks were dragged down by falling oil prices after weekly US crude inventories showed a much larger-than-expected increase in .
Halliburton Company (NYSE:), Diamondback Energy Inc. (NASDAQ , Schlumberger NV (NYSE ) were among the biggest losers in the energy sector.
-Liz Moyer, Peter Nurse contributed to this report.
