U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, supported by stronger-than-expected May inflation data before the end of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting.
Fed meeting and CPI data
U.S. consumer prices increased less than expected on an annual basis in May, as the consumer price index rose 3.3% over the prior year, slowing only slightly from April’s 3.4%. On a month-over-month basis, the rate decelerated from 0.3% to 0.0%.
This data points to a possible easing of price pressures that could affect how Federal Reserve policymakers view the future of interest rates.
The Fed ends its two-day meeting later in the session and is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
Markets are still hopeful that the Fed will lead potential rate cuts, particularly after its counterparts, especially the European Central Bank, began cutting rates in early June.
However, the general consensus is that the Fed will not start cutting rates until September, as the U.S. labor market remains strong and the inflation outlook is high.
Oracle boosts profits thanks to artificial intelligence partnerships
The technology market continued to be in the spotlight on Wednesday. Oracle (ORCL) shares rallied 9% after the technology company unveiled two new partnerships with ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Google (GOOGL) Cloud in an effort to expand the reach of its AI infrastructure, while unveiling a healthy revenue growth forecast for its fiscal 2025.
In other markets, shares of Rubrik (NYSE:RBRK) rose more than 3% after the cloud data management company beat first-quarter revenue forecasts.
Nio (NIO) shares were down 1.2% after the European Union said it would impose higher tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports of up to 38%.
Oil prices boosted by demand optimism
Oil prices rose on Wednesday, helped by optimism about U.S. demand and global demand.
The data overshadowed a bearish monthly report from the International Energy Agency, in which the Paris-based body cut its estimate for global crude demand growth for 2024 by 100,000 barrels per day to 960,000 bpd, citing sluggish consumption in developed countries.
The American Petroleum Institute released data on Tuesday showing that U.S. crude oil inventory levels fell more than expected the previous week, raising expectations that U.S. fuel consumption would rebound with the start of the travel-laden summer season.
The official weekly inventories report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration will be released later in the session.
