Hot US inflation data hits Wall Street, Nasdaq drops nearly 2%

Wall Street stocks fell Wednesday after a hotter-than-expected US inflation reading fueled fears of another Federal Reserve interest rate hike, with the Nasdaq suffering the steepest losses, dropping nearly two percent. The consumer price index rose 3.7 percent year-on-year in September, up from August's 3.4 percent and exceeding analyst expectations, marking the highest level since May. Weakness in leading artificial intelligence equities, including Nvidia and AMD, compounded the decline, with data center operator CoreWeave losing over 15 percent. European markets ended higher, while Asian equities struggled following Tuesday's steep tech losses. Bank of America fell 4.8 percent after a $1.2 billion fine for anti-money laundering violations, and Lufthansa dropped 2.2 percent after being selected for a stake in Portugal's TAP.