The three major New York stock indexes rebounded to close higher. The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) for November came in lower than expected, stirring controversy that the results were distorted, but investors responded with bargain hunting for now.
On the 18th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 65.88 points, or 0.14%, higher at 47,951.85. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 rose 53.33 points, or 0.79%, to 6,774.76, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 313.04 points, or 1.38%, to 23,006.36, respectively, at the close.
The Labor Department said that over the two months from September to November, the headline CPI rose 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis. The core CCPI growth rate was also 0.2% from September.
The year-over-year figures fell more sharply. November CPI rose 2.7% year over year, and core CPI rose 2.6%, both lower than September's year-over-year readings and below market expectations.
On the news, major stock index futures extended gains, and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which had plunged more than 3% the previous day, jumped 2.6%. Still, indexes swung throughout the session, reflecting fragile sentiment, with the Nasdaq's gain dropping by 1 percentage point (p) in about 30 minutes intraday.
Investor sentiment also appeared shaken as concerns grew over data collection instability and distortion surrounding the November CPI.
By sector, communication services, utilities, technology, and consumer discretionary climbed more than 1%, while energy fell 1.42%.
All mega-cap technology corporations with a market capitalization of $1 trillion or more rose. Tesla jumped 3.45%, and Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Broadcom, Amazon, and Meta also gained around 2%.
Trump Media surged 42% after it released a merger with TAE Technologies, a corporations developing fusion energy.