NEW YORK—Wall Street returned to its highest level in more than a year on Wednesday after a report showed inflation cooled a bit more than expected last month, which hopefully takes some more pressure off the economy.
The S&P 500 rose 32.90, or 0.7 percent to 4,472.16 to reach its strongest closing level since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 86.01, or 0.3 percent, to 34,347.43, and the Nasdaq composite gained 158.26, or 1.2 percent, to 13,918.96.
Most stocks rose on Wall Street, from flashy Big Tech behemoths to staid utility companies, though the gains faded a bit as the day progressed.
The U.S. government’s latest update on inflation showed that consumers paid prices for gasoline, food, and other items that were 3 percent higher overall in June than a year earlier. That’s down from 4 percent inflation in May and a bit more than 9 percent last summer. Perhaps more importantly, it was a touch lower than economists expected….