US stocks and bonds drift following the latest update on inflation, while oil prices ease

stock market is drifting Wednesday after a report said inflation was a touch worse last month than economists expected. The data sent yields a bit higher in the bond market, home to some of Wall Street's biggest recent worries, even as oil prices eased some more.The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged and remains near its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 113 points, or 0.2%, as of 11 a.m.

Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% lower.Stocks are making relatively few big moves ahead of an earnings report coming from its most influential company, Nvidia, after trading ends for the day. Expectations are high once again for the chip giant, whose tremendous growth in profit because of the artificial-intelligence boom has made it the largest stock by value in the U.S. market.After soaring for years, AI stocks have become shakier on worries that their prices shot too high and that demand for chips may fizzle out if AI does not produce as much profit as hoped.

That has anticipation high to see what kind of forecast Nvidia gives for upcoming revenue.Strong profit growth across U.S. companies broadly has been the main reason the U.S. stock market has run to records this year.Abercrombie & Fitch leaped 34.9% after reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

The retailer also raised its forecast for earnings over the full year and for how much cash it will send to investors by buying back shares of its own stock.J.M. Smucker climbed 3.3% after likewise reporting sweeter results than expected for the spring. The seller of Folgers coffee and Smucker’s jams also raised its forecast for profit over the full year.On the losing end of Wall Street was Intuit, even though the company behind TurboTax, Credit Karma and QuickBooks topped analysts’ profit expectations in the latest quarter.

It fell 3.9% after giving a forecast for profit growth of nearly 25% in its upcoming fiscal year, which fell short of analysts’ expectations.Outside of earnings reports, Meta Platforms added 2.7% after agreeing to pay $17 billion and add child-safety measures to Facebook and Instagram to end a landmark trial over teen social media addiction and settle claims filed by states across the country.In the bond market, which has been home recently to some of Wall Street’s strongest action, Treasu…