US: Stocks edge lower on mixed inflation report

WALL Street stocks dipped on Thursday (Oct 10), retreating from records following mixed economic data that clouds expectations about upcoming US monetary policy decisions.

US consumer inflation cooled slightly last month, with the annual reading declining to 2.4 per cent from a year ago, down from 2.5 per cent in August.

However, a measure of inflation that strips out volatile food and energy costs edged higher.

The consumer price index data was “a little uncomfortable for the Fed”, said Tom Cahill of Ventura Wealth Management, adding that “the market may have got gotten ahead of itself” in anticipating fast rate cuts.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.1 per cent to 42,454.12, pulling back from Wednesday’s record.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.2 per cent at 5,780.05, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index shed 0.1 per cent to 18,282.05.

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Among individual companies, Delta Air Lines dropped 1.0 per cent as the carrier disclosed a US$380 million hit from an information technology outage during the quarter that led to thousands of flight cancellations.

Tesla shed 1.0 per cent ahead of a much-hyped event in which CEO Elon Musk will update the company’s plans for robotaxis. Briefing.com said the initiative faces “roadblocks”, which also could put pressure on profit margins.

TD Bank tumbled 5.3 per cent after US officials announced a more than US$3 billion settlement for failing to adequately monitor money laundering by drug cartels.

Canada’s TD Bank pleaded guilty to multiple felonies including violating the Bank Secrecy Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering, US officials said. AFP