Wall Street steadies as inflation runs slightly hot

U.S. stocks held mostly steady Wednesday after a report showed inflation was slightly worse than economists expected last month, with the S&P 500 edging down less than 0.1% to 7,675.70, remaining near its all-time high. The Dow Jones industrial average dipped 113 points, or 0.2%, to 53,463.88, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.1% to 26,130.20. Treasury yields ticked higher, with the 10-year yield rising to 4.65%, following the inflation data and a report showing consumer spending growth slowed. The preferred inflation measure of the Federal Reserve sat at 3.7% last month, unchanged from June and above the 3.6% expected. Traders see a nearly three-in-four chance the Fed will hike rates at least once by year-end.