Wall Street inches higher amid turbulent trading following inflation data

US Stocks: Wall Street's major stock indexes struggled for direction as traders maintained expectations of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the coming months, despite consumer prices data coming in hotter than anticipated.

According to a Labour Department report, US consumer prices rose in February due to higher petrol and shelter costs, indicating some persistence in inflation that could delay an anticipated interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve in June.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.4 per cent last month, following a 0.3 per cent climb in January. Excluding volatile food and energy components, consumer prices also rose by 0.4 per cent in February after a similar increase in January.

Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, remarked, "The disinflationary trend is petering out, but inflation is not resurging."

Traders currently see a 70 per cent chance of the first rate cut occurring in June, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, down from 71 per cent before the inflation report.

Amid this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite witnessed modest gains, with utilities leading losses and rate-sensitive technology stocks offsetting losses.

Oracle saw a notable surge of 10.7 per cent on indications of progress in its cloud-computing market strategy, thanks to its partnership with AI chip giant Nvidia.

However, Boeing slipped 4.1 per cent following an audit revealing production issues with the 737 MAX, while Southwest Airlines dipped 12.9 per cent due to lower-than-expected MAX deliveries forecasted by Boeing.

3M jumped 5.8 per cent after announcing William Brown as its new CEO, effective May 1.

Declining issues slightly outnumbered advancers on both the NYSE and Nasdaq, with the S&P index recording new highs but no new lows, while the Nasdaq saw a mix of new highs and new lows.

(With Reuters inputs)