US Equity Indexes Advance as Fed Policy Likely to Focus on Labor Market Weakness

03:52 PM EDT, 09/11/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rise ahead of the close on Thursday amid expectations that the Federal Reserve will look past the seemingly hot August consumer price inflation print and focus more on surging jobless claims.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 1.3% to 46,071.4, after hitting an all-time high of 46,129.84. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.7% to 22,047.2, after scaling a new peak of 22,053.69 earlier in the session. The S&P 500 traded 0.8% higher at 6,586.5, after touching a record 6,587.79.

The consumer price index rose by 0.4% in August, the highest since January, up from 0.2% in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. A Bloomberg-polled consensus was 0.3%. Annually, inflation accelerated 2.9% from 2.7%, in line with the outlook. However, core inflation was steady at 0.3%, while the annual core measure was unchanged at 3.1%. Both prints were in line with expectations.

Another iteration of inflation, the supercore -- defined as core services excluding housing -- rose 0.3% in August, the smallest monthly gain since June, according to a Stifel note. Over the past 12 months, the supercore increased 3.3%, matching the 3.3% annual gain in July.

In the labor market, initial jobless claims rose to 263,000 in the week ended Sept. 6, the highest since October 2021, from a downwardly revised 236,000 in the previous week. The expectations were for 235,000 in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

Markets are now pricing an 81% probability that the Federal Open Market Committee will lower interest rates by 75 basis points between September and December, up from 68% a day ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Treasury yields fell, with the 10-year down 2.5 basis points to 4.01% and the 30-year rate declining 3.2 basis points to 4.65%.

In company news, Paramount Skydance (PSKY) is preparing a majority cash bid for media and entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) , The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing unnamed sources. Warner Bros. shares catapulted 27% ahead of the close, the top gainer on the S&P 500.

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