Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher after inflation data clears the way for cuts to rates

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Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher after inflation data clears the way for cuts to rates

2024-08-15 04:14 Last Updated At：04:20

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks ticked higher in a quiet Wednesday after the latest update on inflation came in almost exactly as economists expected.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to follow up on one of its best days of the year and climb within 3.7% of its all-time high set last month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 242 points, or 0.6%, to finish a day above the 40,000 level for the first time in nearly two weeks. The Nasdaq composite edged up less than 0.1%.

Treasury yields were also relatively steady in the bond market after the U.S. government said consumers paid prices that were 2.9% higher last month for gasoline, food, shelter and other things than a year earlier.

The data should keep the Federal Reserve on track to cut its main interest rate at its next meeting in September, a move that Wall Street has long been looking forward to. The Fed has been keeping rates at an economy-crunching level in hopes of stifling inflation that topped 9% two years ago, and lower interest rates would ease the pressure on both the economy and on prices for investments.

The only question is how big the first cut to rates since the 2020 COVID crash will be: the traditional quarter of a percentage point or a more dramatic half point?

Wednesday’s reading on inflation at the consumer level wasn’t as cool as the prior day’s update on inflation at the wholesale level, but it likely doesn’t change much, according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley.

If most of the data over the next few weeks points to a slowing economy, he said the Fed may cut more aggressively. That includes a report coming up Thursday about how much U.S. shoppers spent at retailers.

While the economy is still growing, and many economists see a recession as unlikely, worries have risen about its strength after a much worse-than-expected month of hiring by U.S. employers in July.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 3.83% from 3.85% late Tuesday. It’s been coming down since topping 4.70% in April, as expectations have built for coming cuts to interest rates.

The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, edged up to 3.95% from 3.94% late Tuesday, as traders weigh whether September’s anticipated cut will be the traditional or jumbo-sized move.

On Wall Street, Kellanova rose 7.8% after Mars said it would buy the company behind Pringles, Cheez-Its and Kellogg’s for $83.50 per share in cash. The companies put the deal’s total value at $35.9 billion, including debt. Kellanova was created when the Kellogg Co. split into three companies in the summer of 2022.

Cardinal Health rose 3.7% after joining the parade of companies that have reported stronger profit for the spring than analysts expected.

On the losing end was Brinker International, the company behind Chili’s and Maggiano’s restaurants. It fell 10.7% after reporting weaker profit for the latest quarter than expected. That was despite strengthening sales trends at Chili’s, which got a boost from higher prices, increased traffic and the launch of its “Big Smasher” burger. Expectations were high coming into the report for Brinker International, whose stock is still up 45.6% for the year so far.

Starbucks fell 2.1% to give back some of its big gain from the prior day after it said it had lured Brian Niccol away from Chipotle Mexican Grill to become its CEO.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 20.78 points to 5,455.21. The Dow gained 242.75 to 40,008.39, and the Nasdaq composite rose 4.99 to 17.192.60.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were modestly higher across much of Europe and mixed in Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 has been the center of financial markets’ wildest action in recent weeks, and it rose 0.6% following a day of ups and downs. Japan’s embattled Prime Minister Fumio Kishida surprised the country Wednesday by announcing he’ll step down when his party picks a new leader next month.

AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

Tom Hardy and Guy Ritchie reunite for gritty crime series 'MobLand'

2025-04-06 02:03 Last Updated At：02:10

NEW YORK (AP) — Tom Hardy has collected troves of knowledge and skill throughout his journey as an actor, forming a megastar career. But any education he received from director Guy Ritchie during their time on the 2008 “RocknRolla” film was gained from afar.

“I didn’t have very much to do with him ... the first time I worked with him. Gerard (Butler) was leading that film and in many elements, we were support staff,” said Hardy. "So, I got to experience being on the Guy Ritchie set, and it was a bit from a position of not being a lead, and that’s a different responsibility.”

But time can bring people and experiences back around, especially in Hollywood. Since that film 17 years ago, Ritchie has transitioned into esteemed directorial status. And Hardy has morphed into a box office superstar with films like “The Dark Night Rises” as the imposing villain Bane, and the titular role for Marvel’s “Venom” franchise. Now, the two have reunited for Ritchie’s gritty, yet sophisticated series “MobLand.”

“I was really keen to go back and work with him because he’s a fellow Brit and he’s done quite incredible work,” explained Hardy. “I wanted to go and play with him, actually, and see what that was like now I’m older, and it was good fun.”

The Paramount+ original series follows Harry Da Souza (Hardy), an intimidating, yet calm fixer for a London-based crime family hoping to find the missing son of a rival faction to prevent a catastrophic gang war.

How did Hardy prepare to play such a menacing, yet even-keeled character?

“No acting required” he said with a big laugh. “Just turn up and, ‘Oh, yeah, that makes sense’ and say the lines. Don’t bump into the furniture.”

The second episode of the 10-part “MobLand” series airs Sunday on Paramount+.

The series was created by Ronan Bennett, known for popular crime shows like “The Day of the Jackal” and “Top Boy,” and written with playwright Jez Butterworth. Ritchie serves as executive producer and directed the first two episodes. The “MobLand” idea began as a spinoff from Showtime’s popular “Ray Donovan” series, before becoming a stand-alone show.

Two-time Oscar-winner Helen Mirren stars as the devious Maeve, matriarch and manipulator of the crime family, while Pierce Brosnan plays her husband and mob leader, marking a reunion for the pair who worked on the 1980 film “The Long Good Friday.”

It may be hard to think of a role that Dame Mirren hasn’t played, but she found one with “MobLand.”

“There are always characters out there that are going to take you by surprise and … I think, ’Oh my god, I’ve never done anything like that before,” said the “1923” star who believes the line between shooting film and TV is now nearly nonexistent. “That’s one of the sort of beauties of my job, actually, is to constantly be entering into such very, very different worlds.”

Mirren said the opportunity to work with Hardy was intriguing.

“Tom’s involvement in it was one of the reasons I signed up because I’ve admired his work over many years,” Mirren said. “Different actors, you can see, ’Oh, they’re a great actor' … they can perform. But certain actors like Tom, it’s an interior power that just communicates with the camera. And Tom’s got that. You know what? It’s called star power.”

The “MobLand” cast features Paddy Considine of “House of the Dragon” fame, Joanne Froggatt, Lara Pulver, Anson Boon and Mandeep Dhillon. While this show technically reunites Mirren and Brosnan, they also shot the upcoming “The Thursday Murder Club” film prior to this project.

While much was unknown when Brosnan signed on, “MobLand” had all the right ingredients for the former James Bond to dive in, starting with Ritchie, who released his Netflix series “The Gentlemen” last year.

“He’s naughty. He’s cheeky. He’s bold,” said Brosnan. “I love his work. His movies. The way he’s acquitted himself on the landscape of cinema. He’s a unique talent all his own … so I said yes. I wanted to go back to London. I wanted to work."

Next for Hardy is the crime drama film “Havoc” premiering later this month, and there's chatter of a potential sequel to his 2015 “Mad Max: Fury Road.” A second season of “Taboo” is on the way — nearly a decade after its debut. What about a “Spider-Man” and “Venom” crossover? Hardy addressed the rumors that an alleged project fell apart, clarifying it was never in the works.

“People embellish a story. I just said I would have loved to work with ‘Spider-Man,’ but it never happened, which is a fact. It hasn’t happened. And I’m no longer working with ‘Venom’ … it is a shame because my kids would love to watch Venom and Spider-Man together,” said Hardy. “I would have liked that.”

This story corrects title of film in paragraph 3 to “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.