[New York Stock Market Briefing] Major Indices Relieved as Consumer Price Inflation Slows... Tesla Up 7%

The New York stock market partially recovered from a sharp decline as the February U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose less than market expectations.

On the 12th (local time), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 82.55 points (0.20%) at 41,350.93 on the New York Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 finished up 27.23 points (0.49%) at 5,599.30, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up 212.36 points (1.22%) at 17,648.45.

The New York stock market, which plunged the previous day, saw investor sentiment partially recover as the February CPI increase showed some moderation. The U.S. Department of Labor announced that February CPI rose 2.8% compared to the same period last year. This represents a slight decrease from the previous month (3.0%). The forecast compiled by Bloomberg was 2.9%. On a month-over-month basis, it increased by 0.2%.

Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy, recorded a 3.1% increase year-over-year. This improved from the previous month's rate of 3.3% and came in below the expected 3.2%. On a month-over-month basis, it rose 0.2%. Similarly, this was lower than the previous month's increase of 0.4% and below the forecast of 0.3%.

Market experts are hesitant to offer optimistic forecasts based on the February CPI figures. This is because the impact of tariffs was barely reflected in February's CPI, meaning the possibility of price increases remains. Experts believe, based on examples such as washing machine tariffs during the first Trump administration, that it takes 2-3 months for tariffs to affect product prices.

In fact, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) FedWatch Tool, the probability of interest rates being cut by May has actually decreased from 37.4% the previous day to 28.8% after the February CPI announcement. This suggests a greater possibility of inflation in the coming months.

Bloomberg reported, "February's CPI indicates weakening demand for discretionary consumer goods" and "reflects the spending decrease clearly shown in other indicators."

Tech stocks, which had plummeted the previous day, rebounded across the board.

Tesla's stock jumped more than 7% after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened not to tolerate boycotts and attacks targeting Elon Musk's company.

Nvidia also surged 6.43% as bargain hunters moved in. U.S. media reported that Nvidia would join a joint venture consortium to operate Intel's U.S. foundry facilities.

Intel also jumped 4.55%. This was due to news that TSMC, the world's largest foundry semiconductor company from Taiwan, would form a consortium with U.S. companies to operate Intel's foundry division.

Jeong-dong Noh, Hankyung.com reporter dong2@hankyung.com