Wall Street reverses lower as investors digest inflation data

Most major US stock indexes declined on Wednesday as investors digested fresh inflation data and shifted focus to corporate earnings reports.

Government data released today showed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) in the US remained flat on a monthly basis in June, falling short of expectations for a 0.2% increase.

This came after Tuesday's data revealed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.7% year-over-year in June, in line with market expectations. Meanwhile, core inflation — which excludes food and energy prices — increased by just 0.2% month-over-month, slightly below forecasts.

Following the inflation report, President Donald Trump renewed his calls for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates and reiterated his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

Meanwhile, earnings season kicked off on Wall Street, with some major banks already reporting strong results for the second quarter.

And in terms of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.3% (equivalent to 117 points) to 43,905 points as of 16:32 GMT, while the broader S&P 500 index declined by 0.3% (equivalent to 21 points) to 6,222 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped by 0.5% (equivalent to 93 points) to 20,585 points.