(News Bulletin 247) – Wall Street showed caution on Wednesday, on the eve of the publication of monthly inflation figures: the Dow Jones fell by more than 0.5% to 35,123 points and the Nasdaq Composite fell nearly 1.2% to 13,722 points.

Consumer prices in the United States for July, to be published on Thursday, will be all the more closely followed as the figures for the month of June, which were much lower than expected, had removed the prospect of further rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

A further slowdown in prices could complicate the task of the Fed, which has recently signaled its intention to continue raising rates. For the time being, however, Barclays expects an increase of 0.2 points in the annual inflation rate in July, to 3.2%.

“The recent downward trend in the annual inflation rate is likely to pause and even potentially reverse in the coming months, as favorable base effects will no longer be taken into account,” warns the British bank.

The only macroeconomic data released on Wednesday, crude oil inventories rose to 445.6 million barrels last week in the United States, signaling an increase in inventories of 5.9 million compared to the previous week.

In the news of values, Eli Lilly gleaned 0.9% despite a jump of almost 15% the day before, supported by an increase in recommendation from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’ at Jefferies on the title of the health group, with a price target raised from 430 to 615 dollars.

Lyft slumped 10% after reporting narrowing net losses for its second quarter, but with “early comments from the ride-hailing platform on its fourth quarter expectations falling short of expectations”, according to Susquehanna.

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