04:40 PM EDT, 03/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes closed mostly higher Wednesday after official data showed that consumer inflation decelerated more than projected in February.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.2% to 17,648.5, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.5% to 5,599.3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% at 41,350.9. Among sectors, technology led the gainers, while consumer staples saw the biggest drop.

In economic news, the US consumer price index increased 0.2% sequentially and 2.8% annually last month. A Bloomberg-complied consensus had pegged the growth rates at 0.3% and 2.9%, respectively.

"This was a well-behaved CPI inflation report that will raise expectations for an even tamer core (personal consumption expenditures) inflation print later this month," BMO said. "This will calm market fears that consumer inflation is meaningfully heating up again and getting away from the (Federal Reserve's) goal even before new tariffs on goods imports hit."

The official producer price report for February is scheduled to be released Thursday.

Markets widely expect the Fed to hold its benchmark lending rate steady next week, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

On the trade front, Canada will impose 25% retaliatory tariffs on more than $20 billion of US goods, effective Thursday, CNBC reported Wednesday, citing Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc. Separately, the European Union said it will impose counter-tariffs on up to 26 billion euros ($28.31 billion) worth of US goods starting next month.

US Treasury yields advanced, with the two-year rate rising 5 basis points to 3.99% and the 10-year rate increasing 2.8 basis points to 4.32%.

In company news, Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares jumped 6.4%, the top gainer on the Dow and among the best on the S&P 500. Tesla (TSLA) shares increased 7.6%, the best performer on the S&P 500.

Other mega-cap stocks Microsoft ( MSFT ) , Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Meta Platforms ( META ) , and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) also closed higher, though Apple ( AAPL ) dropped 1.8%, making it one of the worst performers on the Dow.

Salesforce ( CRM ) said it plans to invest $1 billion in Singapore over the next five years to accelerate the country's digital transformation and the adoption of its new artificial intelligence platform, Agentforce. The company's shares rose 2.7%, the third-best Dow performer.

United Airlines (UAL) was among the steepest decliners on the S&P 500, down 4.7%, as BofA Securities, TD Cowen, and Barclays trimmed their price targets on the carrier's stock.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 2.1% to $67.64 a barrel Wednesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday maintained its global oil demand projections for 2025 and 2026, while flagging mounting economic uncertainty amid trade tensions.

Separately, government data showed that commercial crude stockpiles in the US rose less than projected last week.

Gold increased 0.7% to $2,940.30 per troy ounce, while silver gained 1.7% to $33.70 per ounce.