Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data

NEW YORK – Shares slipped in New York and Europe as the latest US inflation report dented the odds of rapid interest rate cuts, while crude prices jumped on worries over the Middle East.
All three major US Wall Street indexes finished the session modestly lower after the Dow and the S&P 500 had chalked up all-time highs Wednesday.
In Europe, Paris, Frankfurt and London all closed slightly lower.
Earlier in the day, Chinese stock markets rebounded somewhat after China’s central bank took action to boost purchases of company shares.
As measured by the consumer price index, US annual inflation slowed to 2.4 percent in September from 2.5 percent in August, the government reported.
But a core measure of inflation that strips out volatile food and energy costs rose to 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent in August.
Both inflation figures were higher than what analysts had expected, and combined with a strong US jobs report last week, they weakened the case for the US Federal Reserve to aggressively cut lending rates.
“The latest CPI figures are hardly a disaster, but after a far stronger-than-expected jobs report last week, many are questioning the Fed’s decision to cut by 50 basis points last month,” said Bret Kenwell, analyst at eToro.
“The two reports have all but taken another 50 basis point cut off the table next month, while some could argue that it rules out a rate cut of any kind in November.”