New York (dpa-AFX)-Wall Street has slowed down a surprisingly strong increase in US consumer prices in the middle of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial closed on Wednesday with a minus of 0.50 percent at 44,368.56 points. For the broadly positioned S&P 500, it was 0.27 percent down to 6,051.97 points. The NASDAQ 100, which was mainly equipped with technology stocks, increased by 0.12 percent to 21,719.26 points.
In January, consumer prices rose by 3.0 percent and reached the highest level in half a year. The core inflation rate without energy and food that is prone to fluctuation was also higher than expected. Consumer prices are of considerable importance for investors because the US Federal Reserve draws conclusions for their further interest policy.
The day before, Fed boss Jerome Powell had signaled the maintenance of the current key interest interest. The markets, on the other hand, still hope for further interest reductions in the foreseeable future. But “With these figures, the US Federal Reserve is encouraged not to be in a hurry in terms of interest in interest.