(CNBC) — U.S. stocks moved slightly higher Wednesday after a key inflation report showed a historic gain but largely matched expectations.
The S&P 500 added roughly 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% for its third straight positive day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which shuffled between modest gains and losses through the session, finished with a gain of 39 points.
The moves come after the December reading for the consumer price index, a gauge of prices across a broad spectrum of goods, showed a gain of 7% year over year. That is the biggest jump since 1982, but was in-line with expectations from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The monthly increase was slightly hotter than expected.
