By Heard Editors

What Happened in Markets Today

Inflation picked up in June. The consumer-price index rose 2.7% from a year earlier, accelerating from May's increase of 2.4%. There were signs that tariffs are creeping into consumer prices for goods such as furniture, toys and clothes, which posted larger increases.

Stocks were mixed. The S&P 500 fell 0.4%, but the Nasdaq gained 0.2%, boosted by Nvidia and other AI and chip stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 436 points, or nearly 1%.

Nvidia got a reprieve on China. The company said it has received assurances from the Trump administration that it can sell its H20 artificial-intelligence chip in China, days after Chief Executive Jensen Huang met President Trump. Nvidia shares rose 4%.

Jamie Dimon defended the Federal Reserve. "I think the independence of the Fed is absolutely critical," the JPMorgan Chase CEO told reporters in a conference call following the company's quarterly earnings report. ""Playing around with the Fed can have adverse consequences." The warning comes as the Trump administration has again stepped up attacks on Fed Chair Jerome Powell, pressuring him to lower interest rates.

This analysis comes from the Journal's Heard on the Street team. Subscribe to their free daily afternoon newsletter here.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 15, 2025 18:35 ET (22:35 GMT)

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