New York stock market starts lower as CPI and Waller's comments are digested

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jeong-won Yoon, Yonhap Infomax = The three major stock indexes of the New York Stock Exchange started lower due to the better-than-expected October Consumer Price Index (CPI) results and remarks by Christopher Waller, Director of the U.S. Federal Reserve System (Fed).

As of 9:43 a.m. on the 10th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the New York Stock Exchange recorded 52,190.57, down 199.18 points (0.38%) from the previous day. The Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index was down 41.34 points (0.55%) from the previous day to 7,508.60, and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 168.42 points (0.67%) from the previous day to 25,084.72.

The fact that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeded expectations in October raised concerns about an interest rate hike and dampened investor sentiment.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that the CPI for all items in October rose 0.4% compared to the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis. This exceeded the market expectation of a 0.3% increase.

Core CPI, which excludes highly volatile food and energy, also rose 0.3% compared to the previous month, exceeding market expectations of a 0.2% increase.

This raised concerns about interest rate hikes.

Prior to the CPI announcement, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said, "If the October CPI inflation data to be released later today is similar to the previous two months' numbers and core CPI inflation is around 0.3% or higher, stronger policy action may be needed. In that case, I think we should consider raising the policy rate by 50 basis points at the December meeting."

According to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Fed Watch tool on this day, the probability of a 25 basis point increase in the December benchmark interest rate in the federal funds rate futures market was reflected as 88.4%, and the probability of a 50 basis point increase as 11.6%. The day before, the probability of a freeze in the base interest rate was 15%, and the probability of a 25bp increase was 84%.

Meanwhile, market participants also paid attention to the details of Antropic's initial public offering (IPO).

According to public data, Antropic IPO is expected to raise up to $64.4 billion and the corporate value will reach up to $1.4 trillion.

“With all the concerns around AI and overinvestment, this IPO comes at a somewhat difficult time,” said Daniela Hatheron, senior market analyst at Capital.com. “It remains to be seen how investors feel about another AI craze.”

Looking at each industry, finance and consumer discretionary goods showed strength, while technology and utilities showed weakness.

Gaming company Take-Two Interactive Software's stock price rose 5.68% after its fiscal second quarter results exceeded expectations. Take-2 Interactive's fiscal second quarter adjusted earnings per share (EPS) and sales were $1 and $1.6 billion, respectively. Market expectations were $0.94 and $1.58 billion, respectively.

Riot Platforms' stock price rose 4.42% thanks to Jefferies' upgrade of its investment opinion from Hold to Buy. Jefferies estimated that Riot Platforms' Corsicana site rental business would generate an average rate of return of about 33%, and argued that the site alone would be worth about $16 per share of Riot Platforms stock.

Electronics manufacturing service company Sanmina's stock price rose 5.25%. Sanmina presented annual EPS and sales guidance of $15.50 to $17.50 and $17.5 billion to $19.5 billion, respectively. This exceeded both market expectations of $14.07 and $16.61 billion.

European stock markets all showed an upward trend.

The Euro STOXX 50 index is trading at 6,349.62, up 0.94% from the previous day. Germany's DAX index and Britain's FTSE 100 index rose 0.89% and 0.09%, respectively, and France's CAC40 index rose 0.98%.

International oil prices fell.

At the same time, the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for December 2026 delivery, which is a nearby contract, is recording $84.57 per barrel, down 2.63% from the previous price.