On Wednesday, the Dow and the S&P 500 set another record even though US inflation stood at the high level.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared by 0.62% to 35,484.97. The S&P 500 gained 0.25%, settling at 4,447.70. At the same time, the NASDAQ Composite sagged 0.16% to 14,765.14.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. shares advanced by 2.6%. The company reported a net loss in the second quarter of 2021 compared to a profit in the past year. In addition, Chesapeake Energy Corp. announced the acquisition of Louisiana-based Vine Energy Inc.
Coinbase Global Inc. shares gained 3.2%. In the second quarter of 2021, the company's net profit increased 50 times to $1.6 billion.
Southwest Airlines Co. shares surged by 1.4%. A spokesperson said the company is unlikely to yield profit in the third quarter of 2021 due to a drop in flights in August amid the spread of the Delta variant.
According to the recent US Labor Department report, annual inflation stood at 5.4%, unchanged from the previous month. At the same time, US consumer prices were up by 0.5% in July. High inflation rates are believed to make the Fed start tapering earlier than planned.
Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said that the current state of the US economy allows the regulator to start reducing stimulus. However, his colleagues have a different point of view. Some of them think that it is too early to announce tapering during the September meeting because the Fed needs to study many reports on the US labor market before taking such a drastic step.
