S&P 500 and Nasdaq opened at record highs on Wednesday after cooler-than-expected producer inflation data boosted expectations of Fed rate cuts. A strong rally in Oracle shares also supported gains.
In the early hours of trading, S&P 500 rose by 37.7 points, or 0.58%, to 6,550.29, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 101.1 points, or 0.46%, to 21,980.60. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 91.9 points, or 0.04%, to 45,618.50.
Inflation at the producer level cooled a bit in August 2025, with the Producer Price Index falling by 0.1%. That is a shift from July’s 0.7% increase and suggests that rising costs for businesses may be slowing down.
The drop was mainly due to a 0.2% decline in service prices, while goods prices inched up by 0.1%. Over the past year, overall producer prices rose 2.6%, due to gradual easing in inflation.
“Core” producer prices, excluding food, energy, and trade, rose 0.3% in August and are up 2.8% from a year ago, the biggest yearly jump since March. The biggest price drops came from vehicle and machinery wholesalers, natural gas, and some metals. However, prices went up for tobacco and financial services.
Oracle’s shares jumped more than 35% in early September 2025, hitting all-time highs after the company announced a major boost in demand for its cloud services, especially from artificial intelligence (AI) companies.
The tech giant said it had secured several multi-billion-dollar contracts and now expects its cloud infrastructure sales to grow by 77%, reaching $18 billion this year.