By Yasin Ebrahim

Investing.com – The S&P 500 climbed Wednesday, but data showing inflation remained elevated kept a lid on the upside amid fears the Federal Reserve may be forced to hike interest rates sooner than expected.

It rose by 0.27%. The was flat. It was 0.6%.

It rose 0.4% in September, which was higher than the 0.3% increase recorded in August and is more than 0.3% estimates. CPI rose 5.4% in September due to an increase in consumer prices, up from 5.3% in August.

There are signs that price pressures may be emerging in some areas of the economy, such as rents or owners’ equivalent rents. This will put a test on the Federal Reserve’s continuing narrative that inflation is temporary.

 “[P]Rice pressures are changing to stickier ingredients and will make it more difficult for the Fed to defend its ‘transitory” thesis,” Jefferies, NYSE: stated in a memo.

This was mainly due to the impact of financials on the wider market. The decline in banking stocks came as JPMorgan began its third quarter earnings season.

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:) reported Q3 earnings of $3.74 per share on revenue of $29.65 billion,  compared with estimates of $2.92 on revenue $29.65 billion. The shares of JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:) fell by more than 2 percent.

BlackRock (NYSE 🙂 delivered an even better performance on the bottom and top lines. This sent its shares up more than 33%

Delta Air Lines (NYSE) posted a profit during the third quarter. However, the airline cautioned that increased fuel costs would hurt its fourth-quarter results. Shares fell by almost 6%.

As oil prices fell from session lows, energy saw some gains in energy. The recovery was based on the expectation that there will be continued growth.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that $100 per barrel oil prices are possible.

The fall in Treasury yields was supportive for megacap tech. However, gains in overall sector were limited by Apple’s weakness.

Apple (NASDAQ) plunged 1% following Bloomberg’s report, which cited unnamed sources that Apple was likely to reduce iPhone 13 production due to the continuing global shortage of chips.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company (NASDAQ :), Facebook (NASDAQ :), and Amazon were all above the flatline.

When the Fed releases its minutes of September’s meeting on Wednesday, investors are likely to focus their attention on clues regarding monetary policy or the economy.

Minutes will likely confirm that Fed members have agreed to taper bond purchases beginning in November and reveal the central bank’s thoughts on rates hikes.