On Wednesday local time, the latest data released by the U.S. Department of Labor showed that the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3% year-on-year in January, marking the largest increase since August 2023. Excluding the more volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI rose 3.3% year-on-year in January, significantly above the Federal Reserve’s long-term target of 2%. On the same day, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell continued to testify on monetary policy during a congressional hearing. He believed that the latest data indicated that the Fed had not yet achieved its inflation target and hoped to maintain interest rates at a restrictive level.

Influenced by these factors, traders postponed their expectations for the Fed’s next interest rate cut to December this year. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note climbed more than 10 basis points to above 4.6%, and the three major U.S. stock indexes ended the day mixed. As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.50%, the S&P 500 Index declined 0.27%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.03%.