US stocks mixed as oil prices tick higher
- US consumer inflation rose 2.4% year-on-year in February
NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks were mixed early Wednesday as markets digested a flat US inflation report and an uptick in oil prices amid the Middle East war.
US consumer inflation rose 2.4 percent year-on-year in February, the same increase as reported a month prior in data that met expectations.
Meanwhile, Brent oil futures rose back above $90 a barrel as Germany and Japan said they would tap into their oil reserves due to the disruption in supply.
About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2 percent at 47,626.06.
READ MORE: Wall Street gains as investors monitor US-Iran tensions
The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.2 percent at 6,794.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5 percent to 22,805.35.
Global markets have been fixated on the surge in oil prices due to the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for Middle Eastern petroleum exports.
Among individual companies, Oracle jumped 12.8 percent after reporting a 22 percent rise quarterly revenue to $17.2 billion as demand for services boosted by artificial intelligence outpaced supply.