01:54 PM EDT, 10/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes were mixed while most government bond yields rose as hotter-than-forecast inflation and a stronger-than-anticipated surge in jobless claims lifted bets in favor of a slower monetary easing pace in November.

The Nasdaq Composite stood little changed at 18,301.2, with the S&P 500 down 0.1% to 5,784.3 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 0.2% lower at 42,414.5 in choppy midday trading Thursday. Energy led the gainers while real estate the decliners intraday.

The consumer price index increased 0.2% in September, the same as in July and August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday. The latest reading was ahead of the 0.1% forecast in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. Annually, inflation cooled to 2.4% from August's 2.5% but was above the 2.3% Wall Street consensus.

Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, grew 0.3% in September, the same as in August but ahead of analysts' 0.2% forecast. At the annual level, core inflation at 3.3% was above the 3.2% Bloomberg consensus.

The pace of growth in shelter prices, a key concern for the Federal Open Market Committee, slowed in September, but goods price inflation, particularly for apparel and airfares, accelerated. Last month, the Fed lowered its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points compared with a Bloomberg-compiled consensus that had indicated a quarter-percentage-point reduction.

FOMC's focus is on trends in inflation, not one-month fluctuations, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Thursday in a live interview on CNBC. Asked about the outlook for FOMC decisions over the coming meetings, Goolsbee repeated comments from other officials that decisions are made based on incoming data and that the FOMC will "consider all possibilities" at each meeting. Goolsbee will next vote on the FOMC in 2025.

In other economic news, US initial jobless claims jumped to 258,000 in the week ended Oct. 5 from an unrevised 225,000 in the previous week, above the expectations for 230,000 in a survey of analysts compiled by Bloomberg and hitting its highest since the week ended Aug. 5, 2023. The surge in claims likely reflects some impact from Hurricane Helene that hit the Southeast the previous week.

Following the inflation and jobless claims data, the probability of a 25 basis-point cut in the Federal Reserve's target rate on Nov. 7 jumped to 89% by Thursday afternoon from 80% a day ago as per the FedWatch Tool. The remaining 11% likelihood was for a pause in the fed funds rate compared with 19% a day earlier, reflecting a zero probability for a 50 basis-point cut.

Most US Treasury yields rose intraday, with the 10-year yield 4.7 basis points higher at 4.11%. The two-year rate slipped less than one basis point to 4.02%, clawing back declines earlier in the session and reflecting the pull and push in fixed-income markets in interpreting the inflation and jobs data.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil surged 3.9% to $76.09 a barrel.

Israel's security cabinet will vote Thursday on its response to Iran's ballistic missile attack, CNN reported, citing an Israeli official. Earlier, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the retaliation would be "powerful, precise, and above all - surprising."

Gulf states are lobbying Washington to stop Israel from attacking Iran's oil sites because they are concerned their oil facilities could come under fire from Tehran's proxies if the conflict escalates, Reuters reported, citing three Gulf sources.

In company news, CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) and Plurilock Security said Thursday they are partnering on an offering to secure critical infrastructure in "democratic nations and economies" against cybersecurity threats. Shares of CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) were up 3.9% intraday, among the top gainers on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

Gold rose 0.5% to $2,639.22 an ounce, and silver jumped 2% to $31.28.