The S&P 500 moved slightly lower on Wednesday after the latest personal consumption expenditures price index reading revealed that inflation remains elevated.
The broad market index declined 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 53 points, or 0.1%.
Meta Platforms was a winner of the day, rising 3% after the company reached a settlement with state attorneys general over a lawsuit alleging that its social media apps harmed young users.
July’s personal consumption expenditures price index — a monthly report detailing changes in prices of goods and services and the Federal Reserve’s preferred metric of inflation — showed a month-over-month and year-over-year increase of 0.2% and 3.7%, respectively. Both figures were 0.1% above what economists polled by Dow Jones had expected.
However, core PCE, which excludes food and energy prices, came in as expected with a gain of 0.2% on the month and 3.3% annually.