Wall street steadies slightly amid easing concerns of inflationary pressures

U.S. stocks steadied slightly after their worst day in eight months on Thursday as a smaller-than-expected rise in consumer prices suggested inflationary pressures were easing, weakening the case for an aggressive campaign of further interest rate rises.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 0.1 per cent last month, Labor Department data showed, as did core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy components. Both were below economists' forecasts of a 0.2 per cent climb.

The main U.S. stock indexes were still slightly lower after opening, but U.S. Treasury yields, whose rise above 3 per cent has been a key factor weakening demand for U.S. stocks, retreated further after the numbers.

"At least for right now, inflation fears seem to be taking a pause. There is a tendency in the markets to overact in both-ways in the short-term which is what we saw last week," aid Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley FBR in New York.

Five of the 11 major S&P sectors rose, with some of the biggest losers from Wednesday's slump leading the gainers.

The technology sector increased by 0.65 per cent and the communication services sector gained 0.50 per cent.

The two sectors house four of the five high-growth FAANG stocks. Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet were up between 1 per cent and 1.9 per cent. Amazon, part of consumer discretionary, was down 0.6 per cent.

At 10:20 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 28.70 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 25,570.04, the S&P 500 was down 7.61 points, or 0.27 per cent, at 2,778.07 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 3.93 points, or 0.05 per cent, at 7,418.12.

Energy stocks fell 1 per cent as oil prices hit two-week lows after an industry report showed U.S. crude inventories rose more than expected.

Walgreens was up 0.4 per cent, reversing pre-market losses, after the drugstore chain's profit soared 88.5 per cent as more people brought prescription medicines and it benefited from its acquisition of Rite Aid stores.

Delta Air Lines rose 4.6 per cent after reporting a third-quarter profit that beat estimates as strong demand for air travel and tight control over costs helped the airline battle rising fuel expenses.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.57-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.08-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and 36 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 5 new highs and 154 new lows. (Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)