US stocks rise after in-line inflation data firm up December rate-cut bets

U.S. stocks gained Wednesday, as in-line inflation data for October, strengthened optimism that the Federal Reserve will likely deliver another rate cut in December. 

At 1:02 p.m. ET (18:02 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 217 points, or 0.4%, the S&P 500 index climbed 0.4%, and the NASDAQ Composite gained 0.2%. 

The main Wall Street indexes fell from record highs on Tuesday as investors locked in a measure of recent gains.  US CPI data meet expectations 

Data released earlier Wednesday showed that headline consumer prices rose 2.6% last month on an annualized basis, compared to 2.4% in September. Month-on-month, the figure came in at 0.2%, matching September's pace.

The "core" reading, stripping out more volatile items like food and fuel, rose 3.3% year-on-year and 0.3% on a monthly basis, in line with September.

These figures were all in line with expectations and soothed concerns after Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari had warned on Tuesday that any surprises in inflation could see the Fed keep rates steady in December.

"This release supports our call for a 25 bps cut from the FOMC in December," Macquarie said in a Wednesday note.

Bets on a December rate cut jumped to 90% following the data, up from 60% the prior day.  Rivian soars on increased investment 

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN ) stock surged 18% after the electric vehicle maker and Volkswagen (ETR:VOWG ) announced an increased investment by the German automaker in a joint venture.

VW's plans to invest up to $5.8 billion in Rivian and the joint venture by 2027 would provide the funding that the electric vehicle needs for its R2 model ramp-up and the GA plant's R2/R3 midsize platform, Wedbush said in a Wednesday note. Spotify, Cava shine on earnings stage, but Skyworks falters

Spotify Technology (NYSE:SPOT ) rose 11% after it clocked strong subscriber growth for the September quarter while issuing a solid forecast for the year.

CAVA Group (NYSE:CAVA ) soared nearly 7% after the Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant chain popped 14% after reporting a top- and bottom-line beat in the third quarter. 

Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ:SWKS ) fell over 4% after the semiconductor company's forward guidance for the first quarter came in lighter than expectations.  Bitcoin continues to melt up

Bitcoin (BitfinexUSD ) continued its post-election rally, rising 6% to $92,285 in recent trading. The popular crypto had earlier topped $93,000 for the first time amid growing bets that a second Donald Trump administration would be favorable for the bitcoin.   

(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

Source: Investing.com