Tech Shares Slide After United States Inflation Jumps to 3.7 Per Cent

Consumer prices in the United States rose by 0.6 per cent in September, pushing the annual inflation rate to 3.7 per cent, up from 3.4 per cent in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Gasoline prices jumped 9.1 per cent in the month and accounted for more than half of the overall increase, while core inflation rose 0.3 per cent in the month and 2.6 per cent over the year.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.09 per cent to 51,621.48, the S&P 500 fell 1.11 per cent to 7,718.94, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.88 per cent to 26,692.87, with chip stocks leading the losses. Canada's TSX Composite fell 1.11 per cent to 35,584.46.

Bank earnings were mixed: Bank of America missed estimates as a 1.2 billion dollar Treasury penalty over anti-money-laundering failings dragged its profit down, Morgan Stanley beat expectations on strong stock trading, and BlackRock reported record assets under management of 15.5 trillion dollars after pulling in 205 billion dollars of new client money.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.70 per cent, France's CAC 40 rose 0.58 per cent and Germany's DAX rose 0.15 per cent, helped by the ASML results. Oil finished higher, with Brent crude up about 0.8 per cent to around 106 dollars and 57 cents a barrel, as traders weighed the risks to shipping through Hormuz.