Prices ticked up 0.3 percent from March to April, and prices were up 3.4 percent from a year ago, according to the Labor Department’s latest Consumer Price Index (CPI).
The news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 index and Nasdaq composite on a rally.
The Dow rose roughly 350 points Wednesday to close at 39,908, a gain of 0.9 percent. The S&P rose 1.2 percent and the Nasdaq climbed 1.4 percent.
Easing inflation was welcome news to Wall Street, which weathered several months of higher-than-expected price gains.
While in December Federal Reserve officials were signaling plans to cut interest rates this spring, the central bank held off on rate cuts as both employment and inflation remained strong.
The Fed is looking to see inflation fall before it cuts rates, which could stimulate the economy and the stock market as companies and consumers alike have to spend less money paying off debt costs.
The Hill’s Sylvan Lane has more here.
