Wall Street soars as inflation falls more than expected in July
CBSN
Stocks on Wall Street soared on Wednesday after inflation cooled more than expected last month, sparking speculation the Federal Reserve may not have to be as aggressive about hiking interest rates as feared.
The S&P 500 was up 73 points at 4,196, or 1.8%, as of 12:30 Eastern Time, amid a widespread rally that launched after a report showed the nation's biggest economic challenge, inflation, slowed to 8.5% at the consumer level last month from 9.1% in June. Technology stocks, cryptocurrencies and others of the year's hardest-hit investments were some of the day's biggest winners.
The Nasdaq composite, whose many high-growth and expensive-looking stocks have been particularly vulnerable to interest rates, was up a market-leading 2.6%. Bitcoin rose 3.3% to top $24,000, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 457 points, or 1.4%, at 33,231.
Chaos erupted overnight as police tried to break up a pro-Palestinian encampment at Emerson College in Boston, the latest flashpoint in a growing movement on college campuses around the country protesting Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Hundreds of people have been arrested in Massachusetts, Texas and California during the tense protests, following several rounds of arrests in New York in recent days.
The U.S. government, in what an attorney says is a "monumental admission," said last year that it caused injury to thousands of people on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when jet fuel from its storage facility leaked into the drinking water system. On Monday, thousands of military family members and locals are headed to trial seeking financial compensation.
An Arizona grand jury indicted 18 people Wednesday in the ongoing investigation into an alleged attempt to use alternate electors after the 2020 presidential election as part of a wider alleged conspiracy to falsely declare then-President Donald Trump the winner, the state's attorney general announced.