Wall Street stocks mostly fell early Wednesday following inflation data that showed overall progress but which indicated continued pricing pressure in some areas.

About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.2 percent at 40,255.47.

The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.6 percent to 5,460.53, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite index was flat at 17,024.39.

The consumer price index slowed to 2.5 percent in August from a year ago, down from 2.9 percent in July and the lowest annual figure since February 2021.

However, a measure of inflation that strips out volatile food and energy costs rose by a larger-than-expected 0.3 percent from a month earlier.

While investors widely expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later this month, markets have been unsure of how big the cut will be.

Following Wednesday's inflation data, futures markets showed a jump in expectations for the smaller 0.25 percent cut instead of a half-point cut.

Among individual companies, Trump Media & Technology Group plunged 15.2 percent following a presidential debate in which some observers pegged Vice President Kamala Harris the winner over former president Donald Trump.