S&P 500 and Nasdaq Trade Lower Despite Tame July CPI Data

Stocks traded mostly lower Wednesday morning even as tame July Consumer Price Index data came in mostly as expected, seemingly paving the way for the Federal Reserve to give equities investors the interest-rate cuts that they’ve been hoping for.

The market's main indexes mostly eased even though the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported before the bell that the Consumer Price Index – which measures retail inflation – rose 0.2% in July, matching economists' forecasts.

July's reading took annual U.S. consumer inflation down to 2.9%, slightly below the 3% that economists had expected.

So-called "core" CPI -- which excludes volatile food and energy costs – totaled 0.2% for July and 3.2% for the 12-month period, matching analyst expectations.

The relatively tame numbers put up no new roadblocks to the Fed cutting its benchmark Federal Funds rate, which many investors hope the central bank will do at its Sept. 17-18 policy meeting. Lower interest rates historically help the stock market by making bond and money-market interest rates less attractive.

Meanwhile, individual stocks making significant moves as of shortly after 10 a.m. ET included: