NEW YORK: Wall Street’s main indexes gained on Wednesday as data showing a moderate increase in consumer prices in August cemented bets the Federal Reserve could leave interest rates unchanged in September.

Major megacap growth stocks including Tesla, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Amazon.com gained between 1.1% and 2%, with US Treasury yields coming off the day’s highs.

Consumer discretionary was among the top S&P 500 sector gainers as Ford Motor jumped 2.8% on plans to double the production of its hybrid F-150 pickup trucks in 2024.

Data showed consumer prices increased by the most in 14 months in August as gasoline prices surged, but the annual rise in underlying inflation was the smallest in nearly two years.

Gasoline prices, which have stoked inflation worries, peaked at $3.984 per gallon in the third week of the month, compared with $3.676 per gallon during the same period in July.

At 12:22 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 75.00 points, or 0.22%, at 34,720.99, the S&P 500 was up 14.57 points, or 0.33%, at 4,476.47, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 68.08 points, or 0.49%, at 13,841.70.