By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- U.S. stock markets opened higher on Wednesday with the rebound in technology stocks continuing against the backdrop of fresh U.S. inflation figures that were free of negative surprises.
By 9:40 AM ET (1440 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 307 points, or 1.0%. at 32,140 points, but the Nasdaq Composite, home to the greatest concentration of tech stocks, was outperforming for a second straight day with a rise of 1.2%. The S&P 500 was up 0.8%.
Earlier, February data for consumer inflation had showed prices rising largely in line with expectations, with the headline annual rate rising to 1.7% as expected, and the core CPI slightly weaker than forecast: core prices rose 0.1% on the month, leaving the annual rate to fall to 1.3% from 1.4% in January. Despite some caveats about the reliability of the CPI data in a year of extraordinary shifts in consumer spending patterns, the figures suggest that inflationary pressures are not rising at any particularly alarming rate in the U.S. economy.
U.S. 10-Year bond yields were steady after the auction, showing no signs of unease ahead of a massive $38 billion auction of 10-year Treasury notes later in the day. The auction is one of three this week that will raise money for the massive spending plans contained in the $1.9 trillion stimulus package, which is expected to receive its final vote of approval from the House of Representatives later in the day, before being signed into law next week by President Joe Biden.
The market was eagerly anticipating the first trades in Roblox (NYSE:RBLX) stock, which made its market debut on Wednesday through a direct listing, having set a reference price of $45 a share on Tuesday. That values the pre-teen focused gaming platform company at $30 billion, some 25% more than Snap (NYSE:SNAP) at the time of its initial public offering.
The short-squeeze on various stocks that have been the focus of retail investors congregating on social media chatboards returned to frenzied levels again, with GameStop (NYSE:GME) stock rising another 18% and movie theater operator AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) rising 13.5%.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock, which had traded below $540 last week, broke back above $700 with a 4% gain, before easing off a little.
General Electric (NYSE:GE) stock and AerCap (NYSE:AER) stock both suffered a 'buy-the-rumor-sell-the-fact' relapse after the two companies confirmed a deal that will see GE transfer its GECAS aircraft leasing operation to AerCap for $24 billion in cash and a 46% stake in AerCap.