The S&P 500 opened in record territory on August 12 after the Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered a CPI print that landed squarely on economists’ expectations. July headline inflation came in at 3.4% year-over-year, ticking down from 3.5% in June, while the month-over-month increase was a modest 0.1%.
Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite followed suit, climbing in early trading as investors digested the numbers.
The numbers that moved the needle
Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose 2.5% year-over-year. That’s the lowest reading since February 2026.
The data dropped at 8:30 a.m. ET, and futures markets had already been telegraphing optimism before the numbers hit screens. The S&P 500 had closed the prior session at 7,757.64, setting up the index to gap into fresh record territory once the inflation print confirmed what traders had been hoping for: that price pressures continue to moderate at a steady, non-alarming pace.
