By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com -- The Dow jumped Thursday, led by tech after data showing slowing inflation stoked hopes for less hawkish Federal Reserve rate hikes, pushing Treasury yields lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 3.1%, or 1,003 points, the Nasdaq was up 6%, and the S&P 500 gained 4.6%.
The Labor Department said Thursday its consumer price index rose 0.4% last month, confounding expectations for a 0.6% rise. Core inflation, which is considered a more accurate gauge of inflation slowed to 0.3% from 0.6%, versus expectations for a 0.5% rise.
“The softening of core inflation in the October release is welcome news for the Fed,” Morgan Stanley said in a note. But cautioned that the optimism over slowing inflation could be unraveled should incoming data show labor markets remain tight.
"Signs of deceleration will help Fed officials moderate the reduction in the pace of tightening, though a stronger than expected December payroll print (300k+) could still complicate the issue at the margin,” it added.
Pricing in the prospect of a less hawkish Fed, Treasury yields slumped, with the 2-year Treasury yield, which is sensitive to Fed policy, falling to two-week lows, helping big tech surge.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) were up more than 6% while Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) rose more than 7% and 8% respectively.