US stocks hovered between small gains and losses in morning
trading in Wall Street Wednesday after a report showed that inflation remains
significantly high.

The S&P 500 added 10.59 points or 0.30% to 3,599.43 as
of 10:34 am Eastern time. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 176.23 points
or 0.60% to 29,415.42. The Nasdaq rose 4.16 points or 0.40% to 10,430.35.

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Health care stocks gained ground. Moderna jumped 9.5% after
announcing a deal with Merck to develop a cancer vaccine. US crude oil prices
slipped 1.1% and weighed down energy. Hess fell 1.3%.

Small company stocks fell in a potential sign that Wall Street
is concerned about economic growth. The Russell 2000 lost 0.9%.

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Treasury yields, which have driven much of Wall Street’s recent
trading, were holding relatively steady. The yield on the 10-year Treasury,
which helps determine mortgage rates, fell 3.94% from 3.95% late Tuesday. The
yield on the two-year Treasury remained at 4.31% from late Tuesday.

Markets have been choppy this week as traders watch for the
latest round of major company earnings reports and fresh reports on inflation
and retail sales. The benchmark S&P 500 is coming off five straight losses and
is close to its lowest points in nearly two years.

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According to a government report, inflation at the wholesale
level eased last month, though it was bit worse than economists expected. A more
closely monitored component of the inflation data matched economists’ forecasts.

Investors are closely watching inflation updates as the are
concerned that stubbornly high prices on everything from food to clothing could
lead to a recession. Those worries have been worsened by central banks from around
the world raising interest rates to make borrowing more expensive and slow
economic growth.

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The Federal Reserve has been aggressively raising will
release minutes from its last meeting later on Wednesday, possibly giving Wall
Street more insight into its views on inflation and next steps on interest
rates.

A report on consumer prices will be released on Thursday
and data on retail sales for September is due Friday. Both reports could help
give Wall Street a clearer picture of where prices remain hottest and how
consumers are reacting.

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The corporate earnings season starts in earnest this week.
PepsiCo gained 3.4% after raising its profit forecast for the year following
encouraging quarterly financial results.

Domino’s Pizza and Walgreens will announce their results on
Thursday. Big banks, including Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, will report
results on Friday.