US stocks rise after CPI shows inflation rose at slowest pace in 2 years in April

• US stocks advanced Wednesday after the April inflation report shows further easing of consumer price pressures.
• Headline CPI rose to 4.9%, coming in below expectations of 5%.

US stocks rose Wednesday after the government's April inflation report showed further cooling of pricing pressures, a development that could support a decision by the Federal Reserve to pause or end its rate-hike campaign.

Stock futures turned higher after the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its report, putting the S&P 500 on track to rise for the third time in four sessions.

The Consumer Price Index for April increased 4.9% over the past year, marking lowest reading since May 2021. The result was below expectations of 5%.

"The fall in annual US inflation from 5% in March to 4.9% in April is welcome news for the US economy. It is also welcome news, of course, for the US banking sector as the US Federal Reserve now has room to consider holding rates at its next meeting in June," Oliver Rust, head of product at Truflation, an inflation data aggregator, said in a note. "

"With four banks lost in under two months due in part to the pressure of rising interest rates, the sector will breathe a heavy sigh of relief," he wrote.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Wednesday:

• S&P 500: 4,153.54, up 0.83%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,752.52, up 0.57% (190.71 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 12,315.91, up 1.10%

Still, the reading is much higher than the Fed's 2% inflation target, keeping the central bank "walking a very precarious tightrope between tackling inflation and avoiding recession," said Rust.

Here's what else is happening today:

• Airbnb shares dropped as execs warn of a potential booking slowdown in the second quarter.
• Billionaire crypto bull Mike Novogratz says Galaxy Digital will move more operations offshore because of a "regulatory headache" in the US.
• Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller is ringing the alarm on an imminent recession.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude slipped $0.04 to $73.67. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell to $77.39.
• Gold rose 0.5% to $2,053.90 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield fell six basis points to 3.46%.
• Bitcoin picked up 2.2% to trade at $28,262.12.