Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on July 10, 2026.

NYSE

Stocks rose on Wednesday, led by gains in major technology stocks, as traders reacted to more data showing inflation is cooling.

The S&P 500 gained 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.6%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 28 points, or 0.1%.

Shares of Big Tech companies bolstered the market. Tesla moved up 2%, while Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet climbed more than 1%. Additionally, shares of SpaceX added nearly 2%.

Investors grew optimistic on the state of inflation after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said in a speech Wednesday that "there are encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in coming quarters."

On Wednesday, the produce price index unexpectedly fell 0.3% in June, while economists had expected it to be unchanged on the month. That follows Tuesday's cooler-than-expected consumer price index report, which bolstered hopes that the Fed may not need to raise interest rates as aggressively this year. The report prompted traders to scale back expectations for near-term Fed tightening.

The probability of a rate hike at the central bank's July meeting fell to 17% from 42% a day earlier, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. Markets, however, continue to price in an increase later this year, with traders assigning a 63% probability that rates will be a quarter- or half-percentage point higher following the September meeting.

"While energy played a big role in the price deceleration, the easing was pretty broad and spread across a bunch of categories, a relief to investors," Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note. "However, the Fed and economy aren't in the clear – inflation is still elevated on an absolute basis, oil is back on an upswing, and AI is proving to be very inflationary at the moment."

While equities were higher, gains were limited as crude prices perked up, however. That's after U.S. Central Command said the U.S. launched more attacks against Iran. West Texas Intermediate futures were up 1% at above $80 per barrel. International Brent gained 0.6% to trade above $85 per barrel.

BlackRock was also a winner Wednesday, with shares up more than 6% after the asset management firm reported better-than-expected quarterly results.