Stock Market Today: Investors await July's heavily-watched inflation print originally appeared on TheStreet.

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Good morning. The stock market is open after July's inflation report showed a modest acceleration in inflation. However, not seen as drastic, U.S. equities are up as investors digest increased odds of a September rate cut.

At last reads, stocks had given back some of their early-day gains. The Russell 2000 (+0.82%) led the pack, followed by the Dow (+0.61%). The S&P 500 (+0.25%) and Nasdaq (+0.08%) were also in the green.

President Trump threatened to sue Fed Chairman Jerome Powell over the cost of a $3 billion Fed building renovation because he won't lower interest rates "NOW."

On Truth Social, the President said, "The damage he has done by always being Too Late is incalculable." He went on to add, "Fortunately, the economy is sooo good that we've blown through Powell and complacent Board."

Trump blamed former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for pushing Powell as a candidate for the Fed Chair role during his first term. In his first four years, Trump praised both Powell and Mnuchin for their respective roles.

The threat of lawfare is unlikely to really move the needle at the Fed, though. Powell cannot reduce interest rates alone. Further, after today's inflation print, a 25 basis point cut is seen as a done deal for the September Fed meeting. More data will be needed for investors and other market participants to discern what may lie in store for future meetings.

The market is now open, with stocks jumping on today's U.S. inflation report. Here are the top stocks making moves this morning:

Tech company Sea Ltd SE (+16%) after strong earnings

Health care services provider Cardinal Health  (CAH)  (-10%) after mixed earnings beat; $1.9 billion acquisition

Stablecoin issuer Circle  (CRCL)  (+7%) after strong earnings, greater USDC adoption; layer-1 blockchain announcement

Fashion brand On Holdings (+4%) after strong revenue growth

Underwear company Hanesbrands  (HBI)  (+37%) as the company nears a deal to sell itself to Gildan

Chinese self-driving player Pony AI PONY (-10%) despite triple-digit revenue growth

To keep tabs on all the morning movers and see their charts, check out our Morning Movers thread here.

As widely expected by analysts, U.S. inflation accelerated in July, reaching the fastest rate of the year. Still, the showing was not so hot as to preclude a highly-anticipated September rate cut. As a result, markets are moving to the upside; so too are Treasurys and prediction markets betting on the next cut.

Here's the print:

July Core Inflation Rate: +3.1% YoY (Prev: +2.9% YoY) (Exp: +3% YoY)

July Inflation Rate: +2.7% YoY (Prev: +2.7% YoY) (Exp: +2.8% YoY)

U.S. Core inflation came in mildly hotter than expected, based on estimates provided by TradingEconomics, while the broader inflation measure came below expectations. That more or less offsets.

Still, the pace of inflation increased across both metrics month-over-month. It remains to be seen if that will be a durable theme going forward.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) raised its estimates for 2026 oil demand by 100,000 barrels, while forecasting a "tighter" market, per Bloomberg.

As a result,, OPEC is now predicting that the U.S. economy will need 1.4 million barrels per day, a small increase. That's having an impact on Crude Oil prices this morning. At last glance, Crude was down 0.84% to $63.42.

OPEC also raised its 2025 global economic growth forecast to 3% (from 2.9%), building on last month's report, where OPEC said that economic growth could accelerate as we roll downhill to the end of 2025.

Earlier this morning, we saw 'soft' data cross the wire from NFIB, which posts a monthly Business Optimism Index. July's reading came in at 100.3, higher than the 98.6 in June the highest reading in five months. However, despite the optimism, many businesses are still worried about economic conditions like skilled workers and inflation.

There are 153 earnings reports set for today, per TipRanks, with at least 49 of them slated for this morning.

Among them are Singapore-based Sea  (SE) , health services company Cardinal Health  (CAH) , and Tencent Music Entertainment  (TME) .

Here are some of the top reports on the docket today, arranged by market cap:

However, arguably bigger than any one earnings report this morning, investors will be bracing for fresh inflation data. In particular, analysts are looking for signs that inflation is accelerating, a product of higher tariff rates on imports.

Here's what is on the docket for economic data today, per TradingEconomics. Estimates are based on the consensus tabulated by the platform.

NFIB Business Optimism Index (Prev: 98.6) (Expected: 98.6)

July Core Inflation Rate (Prev: +2.9% YoY) (Exp: +3% YoY)

July Inflation Rate (Prev: +2.7% YoY) (Exp: +2.8% YoY)

Richmond Fed Bank President Tom Barkin is set to speak

Kansas City Fed Bank President Jeffrey Schmid is set to speak

July U.S. Government Budget Statement is due (Prev: +$27 billion) (Exp: -$140 billion)

The inflation data, which is prepared and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is bound to be the day's biggest market-mover. The authenticity of the results themselves will also be a topic of serious consideration, in part because of the controversy surrounding the agency in recent weeks.

Two weeks ago, President Donald Trump fired Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of the BLS, criticizing recent jobs numbers as "wrong."

In her stead, Trump has nominated conservative loyalist E.J. Antoni, the chief economist of the Heritage Foundation, a move which could exacerbate rising distrust of hard economic data from the federal government. The move means politicizing information which is used by the Fed, businesses, and households to make economic decisions.

Stock Market Today: Investors await July's heavily-watched inflation print first appeared on TheStreet on Aug 12, 2025

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.