Wall Street Opens Higher as Tech Rebound Continues After CPI; Nasdaq up By Investing.com

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — U.S. stock markets opened higher on Wednesday with the rebound in technology stocks continuing against the backdrop of fresh U.S. inflation figures that were free of negative surprises.

By 9:40 AM ET (1440 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 307 points, or 1.0%. at 32,140 points, but the Nasdaq Composite, home to the greatest concentration of tech stocks, was outperforming for a second straight day with a rise of 1.2%.  The S&P 500 was up 0.8%.

Earlier, February data for consumer inflation had showed prices rising largely in line with expectations, with the headline annual rate rising to 1.7% as expected, and the core CPI slightly weaker than forecast: core prices rose 0.1% on the month, leaving the annual rate to fall to 1.3% from 1.4% in January.  Despite some caveats about the reliability of the CPI data in a year of extraordinary shifts in consumer spending patterns, the figures suggest that inflationary pressures are not rising at any particularly alarming rate in the U.S. economy. 

U.S. 10-year bond yields were steady after the auction, showing no signs of unease ahead of a massive $38 billion auction of 10-year Treasury notes later in the day.