More hot inflation data meant a cold open for stocks, but optimism about the long-term potential of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution and the near-term promise of a U.S.-China summit lifted two of the three main equity indexes into the green on Wednesday.
A day after the April CPI report showed consumer prices rose at their fastest rate since 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the quickest pace of increase for producer prices since 2022. According to the BLS, the Producer Price Index (PPI) was up 1.4% in April, accelerating from 0.7% in March and above a consensus forecast of 0.5%. PPI was up 6.0% on an annualized basis. Core PPI was up 1.0% month over month, topping an estimate of 0.4%.
