04/10/2024

Wall Street Ends Sharply Lower

Sticky inflation dims investors' rate cut hopes

U.S. stocks tumbled to a lower close on Wednesday after hotter-than-expected inflation data threw cold water on hopes that the Federal Reserve would begin cutting interest rates as early as June.

All three major U.S. stock indexes veered sharply lower at the opening bell after the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index (CPI) report landed north of consensus, a reminder that inflation's road back down to the Fed's 2 percent target will remain a long and meandering one.

"The stickiness of inflation data caused a 'sell first ask questions later' mentality," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha. "And that disappointment caused a push-back on not only the potential timing of the first rate cut but how many we’re going to get."

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