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CVS Health ( CVS ) rises after beating profit estimates

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Lyft ( LYFT ) falls as Q1 bookings forecast misses estimates

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January CPI at 3% YoY vs 2.9% estimate

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Indexes down: Dow 0.99%, S&P 500 0.77%, Nasdaq 0.58%

(Updates with afternoon trading levels)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta

Feb 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell on

Wednesday, as a hotter-than-anticipated inflation reading added

to worries that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates

anytime soon, while some upbeat earnings like that of CVS Health ( CVS )

helped crimp losses.

U.S. consumer prices

increased

by the most in nearly one-and-a-half years in January,

reinforcing the Fed's message that it was in no rush to resume

cutting interest rates amid growing uncertainty over the

economy.

The surge in prices offered a cautionary note to

President Donald Trump's push for tariffs on imported goods,

which have been panned by economists as inflationary.

"The CPI report was not a disaster but it's not what the

Fed wanted to see either," said Robert Ruggirello, chief

investment officer, at Brave Eagle Wealth Management.

"I think (the Fed) is going to do what's implied by the

market."

Traders are now fully pricing in just one more 25 basis

point rate reduction this year.

Before the data, they saw an about 40% chance of another

similar-sized move, as per LSEG data.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell also began his second day of

testimony before Congress on Wednesday. He had reiterated that

the U.S. central bank is in no rush to cut its short-term

interest rate again when he testified to the Senate Banking

Committee on Tuesday.

January's reading is the last inflation reading before any

direct impact from Trump's tariff measures, which went into

effect this month.

Trump's trade advisers are finalizing plans for the

reciprocal tariffs on every country that charges duties on U.S.

imports.

The Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's

"fear gauge," jumped to its highest in a week, last at 16.6

points.

Most megacap and growth stocks fell, with Nvidia ( NVDA )

and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) sliding over 1% each.

Tesla was an outlier, up 2.7% after falling for

the last five sessions.

At 11:26 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

fell 441.36 points, or 0.99%, to 44,150.93, the S&P 500

lost 46.71 points, or 0.77%, to 6,021.21 and the Nasdaq

Composite lost 114.85 points, or 0.58%, to 19,531.10.

The economically sensitive Russell 2000 smallcap index

dropped 1.4%.

All 11 S&P 500 sectors traded lower, with rate-sensitive

real estate leading losses, down 1.4%.

The utilities sector, often traded as a bond

proxy, owing to its stable income regardless of the economic

situation, also slid 0.7%.

Treasury yields shot up after the inflation data, with

the one on the 10-year note hitting its highest in

over two weeks.

CVS Health ( CVS ) advanced 13.6% after the healthcare

conglomerate beat fourth-quarter profit estimates.

Gilead Sciences ( GILD ) jumped 7.7% as the biotech

company

forecast

2025 earnings above analyst estimates.

Lyft ( LYFT ) dropped 6.6% after the ride-hailing

company forecast current-quarter gross bookings below estimates.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 3.82-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 2.29-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 11 new 52-week highs and 22 new lows,

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 41 new highs and 182 new

lows.