Nasdaq, S&P 500 Climb

S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 traded higher, while the Dow Jones hovered near the flat line on Wednesday afternoon, as softer-than-expected inflation data boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve may hold off on another rate hike as soon as next month. The PCE price index rose 0.3% in August, below expectations of 0.4%, while core PCE increased 0.2%, also below forecasts of 0.3%. Year-on-year, headline PCE inflation stood at 3.4%, below expectations of 3.7%. Markets are now pricing in a below 40% chance of a 25 bps rate hike in October. Tech stocks led the gains with Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft up around 2%. Chip stocks also advanced broadly, with Intel jumping as much as 3%.