People walk past the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday, June 29, 2022 in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
NEW YORK (AP) – Stocks and bonds are holding relatively steady as Wall Street waits for a highly anticipated report on inflation. The S&P 500 was little changed in early trading Wednesday, coming off a rough run where it’s dropped five of the last six days. The Dow and the Nasdaq were also barely moving. On Thursday the government will give the latest monthly update on inflation that consumers are feeling across the country. Economists expect to see an acceleration to 3.3% in July from 3% in June. That’s down sharply from a peak of more than 9% last summer.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
Wall Street inched higher early Wednesday as markets took in more corporate earnings while waiting for U.S. inflation updates later this week.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrials ticked up 0.1% before the bell, while futures for the benchmark S&P 500 rose a modest 0.2%.
Corporate earnings for the spring quarter have broadly come in better than forecasts, though expectations were somewhat modest. Markets are also anticipating the latest inflation data coming Thursday and Friday, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s next policy decision on interest rates.
The Federal Reserve has hiked its main interest rate to the highest level in more than two decades in hopes of grinding down inflation. High rates work by slowing the entire economy bluntly, which has raised the risk of a recession.
In corporate news, Penn Entertainment jumped more than 18% in after-hours trading after the gaming company announced Tuesday that it was paying $1.5 billion for the exclusive rights to re-brand its sports-betting app with the ESPN name. Penn will operate ESPN Bet, which Disney-owned ESPN has agreed to promote across its online and broadcast platforms.
Shares in the ride-sharing app Lyft skidded more nearly 6% in premarket trading Wednesday, a swift turnaround overnight after the stock initially jumped on what seemed like a solid second-quarter earnings report. Investors were apparently put off by the company’s conservative outlook for the fourth quarter.
In Europe at midday, France’s CAC 40 added 0.9%, while Germany’s DAX jumped 0.8% and Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.7%.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.5% to finish at 32,204.33. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.4% to 7,338.00. South Korea’s Kospi added 1.2% to 2,605.12. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.3% to 19,246.03, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.5% to 3,244.49.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added 84 cents to $83.76 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 77 cents to $86.94 a barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar ticked up to 143.42 Japanese yen from 143.36 yen. The euro cost $1.0977, down from $1.0960.
On Tuesday, concerns the banking sector and recent economic data from China darkened the mood on Wall Street. The S&P 500 and the Dow each finished 0.4% lower and the Nasdaq fell 0.8%.
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Kageyama reported from Tokyo; Ott reported from Silver Spring, Maryland.
