Stock market today: Wall Street points higher again ahead of new US inflation data

abcnews.go.com:

Wall Street is inching higher ahead of an update on U.S. inflation that could play into the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision later this month

Wall Street inched higher early Wednesday ahead of an update on U.S. inflation that could play into the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision this month.

Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3% before the bell, with every sector pointing higher following the strongest day of trading in U.S. markets this month. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained less than 0.2%.

Before Wednesday's opening bell, the U.S. government will report on inflation at the consumer level. Economists expect to see another slowdown, with prices 3.1% higher in June than a year earlier, down from inflation of 4% in May and just above 9% last summer.

A continued easing in inflation could nudge the Federal Reserve toward easing back from the aggressive interest rate hikes it's made to cool the U.S. economy. High rates have helped pull down inflation, but they’ve also caused cracks in the banking, housing, manufacturing and other industries while also suppressing stocks and deal making.

However, Chair Jerome Powell has said the Fed is prepared to keep interest rates at their peak for an extended period to tame rising prices that have shrunk Americans’ inflation-adjusted paychecks and disrupted businesses. The Fed’s policymakers, as a group, envision two additional rate hikes this year.

In an effort to corral inflation, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark borrowing rate 10 times in 15 months, before hitting pause at its most recent meeting in June.

“It would take something remarkable from the inflation report today to convince policymakers that they can afford to pause again,” Craig