It was another broadly positive day for the US and European stock markets with the Nasdaq the only detractor, falling 0.2% as the likes of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) were hit with more pressure on the monopolies they control through their app stores; it’s not just China seeking to regulate.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 both finished higher, supported by a recovery in the oil price and more positive news for the financial sector, they were up 0.6% and 0.3% respectively.
Inflation disappoints
Despite protestations of the opposite, the Federal Reserve’s call that inflation will be transitory appears to be correct with the latest inflation data released overnight.
Whilst headline inflation remained at 5.4%, a 20-year high, primarily due to the low starting point, core inflation which excluded more volatile price changes rose just 0.3% in the month and decelerated from 4.5% to 4.3% per annum.
Surprise, surprise, one of the biggest detractors was a reversal in used car prices which were just 0.2% higher compared to 30% in the previous quarter. Gold bullion jumped on the news, as did despite Biden’s increasing pressure on OPEC to increase production.
US stock market movers
These US stocks were some of the biggest movers on Wednesday.
- Doximity (NASDAQ: DOCS) up 33.0%
- Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST) up 26.2%
- Unity (NYSE: U) up 13.2%
- Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) down 5.2%
- Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) down 15.6%
- Wix.com (NASDAQ: WIX) down 17.0%
Back home on the ASX, the S&P/ASX 200 (ASX: XJO) is expected to edge higher when the market opens on Thursday as ASX reporting season starts to heat up. To find out when your ASX companies are set to report, make sure to bookmark Rask Media’s ASX reporting season calendar.