05:08 PM EDT, 05/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes notched new closing records Wednesday, as official data showed that consumer prices increased at a softer-than-expected sequential pace in April.

The Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.4% to 16,742.4, while the S&P 500 increased 1.2% to 5,308.2. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% to 39,908. No sector reported losses, while technology and real estate led the gainers. Consumer discretionary was little changed.

In economic news, the US consumer price index advanced 0.3% sequentially last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The pace decelerated from March's 0.4% growth rate, which was also Wall Street's consensus, according to a Bloomberg-compiled survey. Annually, inflation slowed to 3.4% from 3.5%, in line with analysts' expectations.

"The April consumer price index is a small step in the right direction but it doesn't warrant any change to our forecast for the first rate cut by the Federal Reserve to occur in September followed by another in December," Oxford Economics said in a note.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to maintain interest rates at its June and July meetings, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. In a bid to tame inflation, the FOMC tightened monetary policy by 525 basis points from March 2022 through July 2023. It has kept interest rates unchanged since then, with its latest pause coming earlier this month.

On Tuesday, government data showed US producer prices rebounded above market expectations on a sequential basis in April, while wholesale costs logged the highest annual increase in a year.

The US 10-year yield slumped 10.1 basis points to 4.34% Wednesday, while the two-year rate lost 9.3 basis points to 4.73%.

US retail sales held steady last month versus market views for a rise as spending gains at gas stations and appliance stores helped counter declines in the auto and non-store retailer components, Census Bureau data showed.

US homebuilder confidence dropped more than expected this month as mortgage rates continued to hover above 7%, according to National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo data.

New York manufacturing activity unexpectedly decreased into deeper contraction territory in May amid weakness in new orders, the New York Fed said.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.1% to $78.85 per barrel Wednesday. Commercial crude stockpiles in the US dropped by 2.5 million barrels to 457 million barrels through the week ended May 10, the Energy Information Administration said. The consensus estimate on Bloomberg was for a draw of 600,000 barrels.

In company news, Salesforce ( CRM ) shares gained 3.9%, the best performer on the Dow. BofA Securities said in a note that the software maker is expected to beat estimates for its fiscal first quarter as feedback from its partners suggested deal activity remained healthy.

Walt Disney ( DIS ) will lower marketing expenses for its Disney+ streaming service as it seeks to make a profit in that business, Chief Executive Bob Iger said. The company's shares fell 2.4%, the steepest decline on the Dow.

Gold gained 1.4% to $2,393.20 per troy ounce, while silver jumped 4.3% to $29.95 per ounce.