Wall Street was little changed on Wednesday, continuing the previous day's pause after the release of inflation figures that reinforced the scenario of another rate cut next month.

In late morning trading, the Dow Jones index managed to advance 0.2% to 44.035.2 points, but the Nasdaq Composite saw its initial gains evaporate and is now down 0.2% at 19,244.4 points.

The rise in US consumer prices accelerated in October, mainly due to a marked increase in rental prices, the Labor Department announced this morning.

The CPI index rose by 2.6% last month compared with the same month in 2023, an annual rate up 0.2 points on September, but in line with market forecasts.

But the 'core' annual underlying inflation rate - which excludes volatile items such as food and energy - was stable at +3.3% last month, which could be a sign of inflationary pressures being better controlled.

Analysts believe that the release of these figures supports the prospect of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve in December.

This inflation report confirms the trend of disinflation in the United States and is a further source of satisfaction for the Fed", comments Bastien Drut, Head of Strategy and Economic Research at CPR AM.

This has even strengthened the likelihood of further monetary easing next month, which traders now rate at almost 86% according to CME's FedWatch barometer, a one-month high.

"Markets should take some comfort from this, as only the last mile of inflation remains, with persistence in services", says Florian Ielpo, at LOIM.

Despite this, the economist spoke of inflation "remaining slimy", an observation shared by other professionals.

"It is becoming clear that inflationary pressures are only easing slightly", added Commerzbank analysts.

These data are not necessarily opposed to further monetary easing by the Fed, but could support the view of those arguing for a slower pace of rate cuts", adds the German bank.

After being penalized by the latest inflation figures, the yield on 10-year Treasuries has eased by just two basis points to 4.42%, while the dollar rebounds, with the euro weakening to 1.0570.

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