Wall Street indexes mixed as Alphabet slips, data keeps rate-cut bets intact
Kellanova jumps after Mars to buy co in $36 bln deal
U.S. CPI rises as expected in July
Alphabet dips after report US mulls Google break-up
Indexes: Dow up 0.64%, S&P 500 up 0.22%, Nasdaq down 0.24%
Updated to 2:00 p.m. ET/1800 GMT
By Shashwat Chauhan and David French
Aug 14 (Reuters) - WallStreet's main indexes offered a mixed bag on Wednesday, as Alphabet and some megacap tech stocks traded lower but the latest inflation data reassured investors bettingthe Federal Reserve would start cutting U.S. interest ratesnext month.
Moves were generally subdued though, with many investors away on a mid-August afternoon, and new triggers for trading were absent, contributing to an overall listless picture among the benchmarks.
The Google-parent GOOGL.O dropped 3.2% after a media report said the U.S. Department of Justice is considering options that include breaking up the online search engine.
Losses in Alphabet weighed on the Nasdaq and pulled the communication services .SPLRCL sector down 1.3%, the most among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors.
Other megacaps were mixed: Tesla TSLA.O slumped 3.5% and Meta Platforms was 0.4% lower. Microsoft MSFT.O was up 0.6% and Nvidia NVDA.O rose 0.7%.
At 2:00 p.m. EDT, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 11.88 points, or 0.22%, to 5,446.31 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC lost 40.67 points, or 0.24%, to 17,146.73. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 257.24 points, or 0.64%, to 40,022.88.
TheS&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC had postedfour straight session of gains following softer-than-expected producer prices data that indicated inflation continued to moderate, although not yet all the way tothe U.S. central bank's 2% target.
A rebound in megacap and tech stocks hashelped markets recoup most losses from a global market rout earlythis month after data showed the U.S. unemployment rate surged inJuly.
Data on Wednesday showed U.S. consumer prices rose moderately in July, and the annual increase in inflation slowed to below 3% for the first time since early 2021, supporting the view inflation was being tamed.
"There is nothing in here that should prevent the Fed from proceeding with a rate cut in September," said David Doyle, head of economics at Macquarie.
"The pace of magnitude of easing will depend broadly on incoming data with inflation and employment figures taking on particular importance."
Money markets now see a 55% chance of a 25-basis point (bps) rate cut at the Fed's Sept. 17-18 meeting, as per the CME FedWatch Tool. Before the data, traders were nearly evenly split between a 25-bps and 50-bps cut.
The Cboe volatility index .VIX, Wall Street's fear gauge, stayed below its long term average of 20 points for the second day at 16.6 after hitting its highest since 2020 just last week.
A majority of the major S&P sectors were in positive territory, led by a 1.2% rise in financials .SPSY. Its advance was aided by gains of more than 4.6% byProgressive PGR.N andCharles Schwab SCHW.N, which rose after positive July performance numbers, andAllstate ALL.N, which climbed after agreeing to sell a business unit.
Both of the insurers were on course to post record closing highs.
Kellanova K.N surged 7.7% after family-owned candy giant Mars said it would buy the Cheez-It and Pringles maker in a nearly $36 billion deal.
Cardinal Health CAH.N gained 4.3% after the drug distributor raised its 2025 profit forecast.
TurboTax parent Intuit INTU.O slipped 1.6% after Morgan Stanley downgraded its rating to "equal-weight" from "overweight".
Reporting by Medha Singh and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru and David French in New York; Editing by Maju Samuel and David Gregorio
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