The Dow Jones fell 0.09%, the Nasdaq index gained 1.04% and the broader S&P 500 index rose 0.45%.

Price growth came in at 4.9 percent year-on-year in April in the United States, slightly below the 5.0 percent economists expected, according to the CPI index, released Wednesday. This is the tenth consecutive month of deceleration.

"Even if inflation persists at high levels, this moderate slowdown offers room for the Fed to leave rates unchanged," said Kathy Bostjancic of Nationwide.

Wall Street expects a much more radical scenario and anticipates, at a minimum, three rate cuts by the end of the year.

These projections have shaken up the bond market, which has seen the yield on 2-year US government bonds, more representative of market expectations in terms of monetary policy than their 10-year equivalent, fall to 3.91%, against 4.02% the previous day at the close.

But the New York market has not been excited. The CPI "has not moved the market much," said Edoardo Campanella of UniCredit, "because core inflation (excluding energy and food) remains too high for the Fed's liking.

As a result, the economist, like others, expects the key rate to remain stable until 2024.

For Chris Low of FHN Financial, the lack of momentum on Wall Street is also linked to the political crisis over the debt ceiling. "There was no need to panic six months ago, but now people realize that there is barely a month left, and it becomes a topic," the analyst insisted.

In a sign of renewed tension, the yield on one-month US Treasuries is at its highest level in at least two decades.

Tuesday's meeting between President Joe Biden and Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress produced no tangible results, but the parties plan to continue their exchanges.

On the market, Alphabet (+4.02%) was driven by Google's presentation on Wednesday of advances in the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into its products. The group has also opened its Bard generative AI interface to Internet users in 180 countries.

The Mountain View firm has taken, in its wake, the large family of artificial intelligence, from the data analysis specialist Palantir (+3.98%) to Microsoft (+1.73%), via Amazon (+3.35%).

Despite results higher than analysts' projections, Airbnb (-10.92%) has been the victim of forecasts deemed disappointing. The platform anticipates a slowdown in its growth in the second quarter, as well as a deterioration in its margins.

The virtual universe platform Roblox (+7.46%) published a turnover well below expectations, but announced a slowdown in its hiring and investments. It expects margins to improve, which pleased the market.

Israel-based generic drug specialist Teva, whose main listing is on Wall Street, dropped 1.48 percent after reporting a surprise quarterly net loss, mainly due to rising costs. The group nevertheless confirmed its forecasts for the full year.

Investors welcomed the results of the regional bank First Citizens (+7.45%), which took over most of the assets of its competitor Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), seized by the authorities in early March, to avoid bankruptcy.

First Citizens managed to increase its deposits in the first quarter, even excluding the contribution of SVB's deposits.

The share of Icahn Enterprises, flagship of activist investor Carl Icahn, skidded (-15.14%), after reporting the opening of a federal investigation into allegations of overvaluation of assets, launched a few days ago by the investment fund Hindenburg Research.

© 2023 AFP