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Update: US Equity Indexes Mixed as AI Infrastructure Players Boost Tech, Cooling Inflation Raises Odds of Sixth Fed Policy Pause
(Updates with index/price moves, macroeconomic data and geopolitical news from the first paragraph.)US equity indexes traded mixed as artificial intelligence infrastructure suppliers boosted mega-cap semiconductor shares and a decline in July's inflation rate lifted bets favoring the sixth consecutive Federal Reserve policy pause.The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5% to 26,588.49, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to 7,748.50 on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by less than 0.1% to 53,770.27. Technology and real estate topped the gainers. Consumer discretionary, materials and communication services were the sole decliners at the close.Super Micro Computer's (SMCI) shares surged 19%, the top performer on the S&P 500, after the company released an upbeat fiscal 2027 revenue outlook.CoreWeave (CRWV) reported a Q2 beat and raised guidance, with inference demand driving the upside despite higher near-term capital expenditures, Oppenheimer said in a note Wednesday. Its shares soared 19%, one of Nasdaq's leaders.Sandisk (SNDK) and Kioxia Corp. unveiled a new 9th-generation, high-performance flash memory technology designed to support the growing storage demands of AI infrastructure. Shares of Sandisk jumped 5.8%, one of the biggest gainers on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.Among companies with market capitalizations exceeding $200 billion each, nine of the top 10 by intraday returns were in the technology sector, according to data compiled by Finviz. Of those nine firms, a majority were related to the semiconductor industry. SpaceX (SPCX) was the leader of the pack, up 10% after saying it is releasing Grok 4.6.In economic news, the consumer price index rose 3.4% in July from a year earlier, decelerating from 3.5% in June and marking the slowest pace of growth since March, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed. The annual print matched the average forecast in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, eased to 2.5%, also as expected, from June's 2.6%.On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices rose 0.1% in July following a 0.4% drop the month prior. Core prices rose 0.2% after holding steady in June. Both readings were in line with market projections."Despite the rebound in monthly measures, underlying inflation trends continue to move in the right direction," Thomas Feltmate, senior economist at TD Economics, said in a report. "At 3.4%, headline CPI has put further distance from its four-year high reached in May, while the annual change on core inflation fell back to its pre-Iran conflict rate of growth."The probability of the Federal Reserve extending its policy pause in September jumped to 60% on Wednesday, up from 52% a day ago and 46% a week earlier, according to the Fedwatch tool.US Treasury yields traded mixed, with the 10-year yield up less than a basis point to 4.69%. The two-year yield fell 1.5 basis points to 4.2%.Gold futures rose 0.7% to $4,470.6, and silver futures jumped 0.9% to $65.51.In geopolitical developments, CNN reported that Iran could "prolong" its war with the US until President Donald Trump leaves office, citing a top adviser to the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.This comes as Tehran reorganized its military to be more aggressive abroad, Bloomberg reported. Several top military appointments by Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei mark a shift to an "offensive doctrine," Mohammad Reza Naqdi, a general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who advises the force's new commander, told state TV late Tuesday, according to the news agency.Meanwhile, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry has suggested the agreement between the two sides remains relevant despite their refusal to shift positions, CNN reported. Trump claimed the US still has control over the strait while Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Middle East oil exports rose above pre-war levels on Sunday, CNN reportedThe front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil contract slipped 0.3% to $82.92 per barrel, and global benchmark North Sea Brent was 0.2% lower at $88.65 per barrel as traders weighed conflicting signals from the Middle East.
Dow JonesNasdaq CompositeS&P 500$CRWV$SMCI$SNDK$SPCX
