U.S. stocks open lower after inflation data

NEW YORK, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks opened lower on Wednesday as a data showed that the country's inflation level rose more than expected last month.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 103.72 points, or 0.42 percent, to 24,536.73. The S&P 500 decreased 8.51 points, or 0.32 percent, to 2,654.43. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 2.18 points, or 0.03 percent, to 7,011.33.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U.S. Labor Department said on Wednesday. Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose by 2.1 percent.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the core consumer prices gained 0.3 percent in January. In the 12 months through January, the core CPI increased 1.8 percent.

Analysts said the string of data all beat market estimates and thus rekindled concerns of surging inflation, which had helped to send the U.S. equities plunging to two-year lows last week.

Investors worried that strong rise in inflation would make the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates as many as three times later this year.

Market expectations for a rate-hike move in December are now at nearly 62 percent, up from 50 percent the day before, according to the CME's FedWatch tracker. Enditem