04:36 PM EDT, 04/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes closed down Wednesday after hotter-than-expected inflation report in March reduced the possibility of an interest rate cut in June.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.8% to 16,170.4, and the S&P 500 was down nearly 1% at 5,160.6. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1% to 38,461.5. Real estate led sector decliners, while energy was the only gainer.

In economic news, the consumer price index rose 0.4% sequentially in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, matching February's growth rate but ahead of the 0.3% consensus in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Annually, the rate accelerated to 3.5% from 3.2% in the previous month, higher than the estimate of 3.4%.

The core inflation rate, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, rose 0.4% in March, unchanged from February but above the 0.3% expected. On an annual basis, core inflation came in at 3.8%, above the 3.7% market forecast.

The probability that the Federal Open Market Committee will begin easing policy in June plummeted to 17%, versus 56% a day ago, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The US 10-year yield increased to 4.55% Wednesday, while the two-year rate rose to 4.97%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.1% to $86.28 per barrel Wednesday.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 6.4 million barrels in the week ended April 5 following a rise of 3.8 million barrels in the previous week, the Energy Information Administration reported. Excluding SPR inventories, commercial crude oil stocks increased by 5.8 million barrels after a 3.2-million-barrel gain in the previous week.

In company news, Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) reported Q1 results above market estimates buoyed by robust travel demand, which the carrier is continuing to see in the ongoing three-month period. The shares were down over 2%

Tesla (TSLA) is in preliminary talks with Reliance Industries to form a joint venture to build an electric vehicle manufacturing facility in India, Hindu BusinessLine reported, citing unnamed sources. Tesla ended 2.9% lower.

Gold fell 0.6% to $2,348.2 per troy ounce, while silver eased 0.3% to $27.91 per ounce.