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US stocks wavered on Wednesday as investors digested an inflation report that showed consumer price increases ticked lower during August and analyzed the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) fell about 0.4%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed about 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dropped about 0.9%, or roughly 350 points, extending losses from the prior trading session.Investors had been looking to August’s consumer price index to lift the uncertainty around the size of the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate cut in years. The data showed headline inflation slipping to a more than three-year low. But “core” prices, which strip out the more volatile costs of food and gas, climbed 0.3% over the prior month, above the 0.2% economists had expected.After a mixed monthly jobs report, the price data was expected to help settle the debate over whether to expect a 0.5% or 0.25% easing in the Fed’s policy decision next week. And after the hotter-than-expected month-over-month increase for core inflation, traders are now favoring a smaller cut from the Fed at its meeting next week.The odds of the Fed lowering rates by 50 basis points now sit at just 15%, down from the 44% chance seen a week prior, per the CME FedWatch Tool.Read more: Fed predictions for 2024: What experts say about the possibility of a rate cutMeanwhile, investors were assessing Tuesday night’s Trump-Harris presidential debate for insight into the nominees’ plans for the economy. Their exchanges were seen as …
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