Stocks Rally on Cooling Inflation, Fed Cut Hopes

U.S. consumer inflation cooled in September, with the CPI rising 0.3% month‑over‑month and 3.0% year‑over‑year (core CPI about 3.0%), coming in below forecasts and boosting market expectations for a 25‑basis‑point Federal Reserve cut next week and another later in the year. Stock futures and major indexes rallied, with semiconductors and big tech leading the advance and 10‑year Treasury yields falling as investors priced in easier policy. Strong corporate results — led by Intel’s sizable Q3 profit beat and a roughly 6–8% jump in its shares, plus beats from Ford and Procter & Gamble — added to the upside even as Tesla and Netflix disappointed. The U.S. government shutdown delayed many data releases and required recalling Labor Department staff so the CPI could be produced for Social Security cost‑of‑living adjustments, leaving markets to trade on limited incoming data ahead of the Fed meeting. Geopolitical and commodity moves — including new sanctions on Russian oil that lifted crude prices and hopes for a Trump–Xi meeting that eased trade tensions — further shaped sentiment.