U.S. stocks open sharply higher after inflation report for July came in below forecast

U.S. stocks opened higher Wednesday, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite leading sharp gains, after an inflation reading for July was lower than expected and eased from June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.53% was trading 1.4% higher soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 SPX, +1.78% rose 1.7% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP, +2.33% jumped 2.3%, according to FactSet data, at last check. U.S. inflation, as measured by the consumer-price index, was unchanged in July, after jumping 1.3% in June, for an annual rate of 8.5%, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. The pace of inflation over the past 12 months has slowed from 9.1% in June. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.3% in July, slowing from a 0.7% increase in inflation in June, the report shows. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast that the consumer-price index rose 0.2% in July and that core inflation rose 0.5%.