US Biz
NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Wall Street's major averages finished mixed on Tuesday as investors reacted to a hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 156.66 points, or 0.46 percent, to 34,089.27. The S&P 500 decreased 1.16 points, or 0.03 percent, to 4,136.13. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased 68.36 points, or 0.57 percent, to 11,960.15.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in red, with real estate and consumer staples down 1.04 percent and 0.93 percent, respectively, leading the laggards. Consumer discretionary rose 1.18 percent, the best-performing group.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday that U.S. consumer price index, a major gauge of inflation, rose 0.5 percent in January on a monthly basis, the biggest increase in three months and higher than the 0.4 percent expected by economists. The annual rate hit 6.4 percent in January, down slightly from 6.5 percent in December and higher than the market consensus of 6.2 percent.
The data showed that while inflation is receding, it is likely to do so slowly and unevenly, experts noted.
"For most categories, inflation is decidedly past peak. But as we see from today's report, the pathway back down to the Federal Reserve's target of 2 percent will be choppy," Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial Research, said in a note on Tuesday.
"The inflection points we anticipate in inflation, monetary policy, and growth have not yet been reached," said UBS analysts, adding "investors should expect continued volatility."