NEW YORK — U.S. stocks fell across the board after September consumer price inflation came in hotter than expected, stoking expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this month, while a sell-off in chip-related shares deepened the slide.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 51,621.48 on the 14th, down 48.62 points, or 0.09%, from the previous session. The Standard & Poor's 500 ended at 7,718.94, down 86.51 points, or 1.11%, and the Nasdaq Composite finished at 26,692.87, down 511.51 points, or 1.88%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 4.30%.
Among the largest companies by market value, most big technology shares declined. Nvidia fell 3.16%, Microsoft 1.80%, Amazon 1.74% and Alphabet, Google's parent, 1.74%. TSMC dropped 3.40%, SpaceX 2.80%, Meta, Facebook's parent, 3.27%, Broadcom 3.10%, Tesla 2.15%, SK hynix 6.06%, Micron 4.08% and AMD 5.73%. Apple was the lone gainer, rising 0.50%.
The market was weighed down from the open by the September consumer price index, which exceeded forecasts. Headline CPI rose 0.6% from August, the biggest monthly gain in five months since April, the U.S. Labor Department said. It climbed 3.7% from a year earlier, above the market forecast of 3.6%. Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3% from August, topping the expected 0.2% increase. Compared with a year earlier, core prices rose 2.6%, also 0.1 percentage point above the market forecast of 2.5%.
The Fed's October survey of economic conditions, known as the Beige Book, said the effects of higher oil prices appeared in reports from all districts. Businesses reported that costs driven up by high diesel prices and fuel surcharges were being passed through across supply chains, according to the report.
The stronger-than-expected CPI also heightened concern that the Fed will raise rates at its Federal Open Market Committee meeting on the 27th and 28th. Federal funds futures raised the implied probability of a rate increase this month to 32.7% from 22.1% a day earlier, according to the CME FedWatch tool. The odds of no change fell to 67.3% from 77.9%.
Oil prices also rose, driven by mounting tension in the Middle East and a supply shortfall warning from the International Energy Agency. Brent crude futures for December delivery settled at $106.06 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London, up 0.35% from the previous session. West Texas Intermediate futures for November delivery closed at $95.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 1.01%. WTI has now risen for five consecutive sessions.
Concerns over crude supply disruptions intensified as clashes escalated between Yemen's pro-Iran Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia's energy ministry said a day earlier that Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran had been attacked, causing a small fire. The Houthis said in a statement that they had carried out large-scale missile and drone attacks targeting Aramco facilities and Riyadh International Airport. In its monthly oil market report, the IEA said supply could fail to keep pace with demand into next year because of Middle East risks, even after the U.S. eased sanctions on Russian diesel and several countries released strategic petroleum reserves.
