Wall Street slipped at midday Wednesday, and the culprit was a familiar one: inflation. A hotter-than-expected September consumer price report stoked bets that the Federal Reserve will keep raising rates, with the Nasdaq 100 down 1.0% and semiconductors extending their losing streak to a seventh straight session.

Here is the number that did the damage. Headline consumer prices rose 3.7% from a year earlier, above the 3.6% forecast and up from 3.4% in August, as gasoline prices jumped 7.1% on the month. Core CPI also came in above expectations at 2.6%.

Treasury yields climbed in response. The 2-year yield rose 14 basis points to 4.93%, while the 10-year gained 10 basis points to 5.31%, and the U.S. dollar index hit an 18-month high near 102.75.

Markets now assign a 45% chance of a further Fed rate hike at the Oct. 28 meeting.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said earlier Wednesday that "this month's core inflation was a blip," adding that more data is needed before the Fed decides on rates.

Across U.S. equity markets by midday Wednesday, losses were concentrated in technology and rate-sensitive areas, while defensive health care names provided a cushion.

• The S&P 500 fell 0.7% to 7,751
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped just 0.1%, or 46 points, to 51,624.

Gains in UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) (up 2.5%), Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) (up 3.2%) and Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) (up 2.2%) offset a 1.8% drop in Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) and a 1.9% decline in Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA).

The Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.0% to 30,265. Within Magnificent Seven stocks, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) fell 2.1%, Nvidia lost 1.9% and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) slid 1.8%, while Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) bucked the trend with a 1.1% gain.

In chips, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) sank 3.5%, Broadcom Inc. (NASDAQ:AVGO) fell 1.7% and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) lost 1.6%. The small-cap Russell 2000 fell 1.3%.

Gold retreated as the stronger dollar and higher real yields weighed. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE:GLD) slid 1.7%, with gold futures down 1.4% near $4,119 an ounce and silver dropping 5.3% to about $56.36.

Wednesday's Performance In Major US Indices

According to market data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) fell 0.7%.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (NYSE:DIA) slipped 0.1%.
• The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) declined 1.0%.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) dropped 1.3%.

Health Care Stands Alone As Chips, Gold Miners And AI Infrastructure Sell Off

Among S&P 500 sectors, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) led with a 1.6% gain. The Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLP) rose 0.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) added 0.2%.

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) was the weakest, down 1.6%.

The Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLU) each lost 1.3%, while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLY) fell 1.2%.

The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLC) and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLI) each slid 1.0%, and the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLB) lost 0.8%.

Among industry funds, the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) tumbled 4.0% alongside bullion, and the iShares U.S. Home Construction ETF (BATS:ITB) dropped 2.7% as mortgage-sensitive stocks reacted to higher yields.

The iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) fell 2.3% for a seventh straight session, leaving it nearly 10% below its Oct. 5 close, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SMH) lost 2.2%.

On the Upside

The iShares Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ:IBB) rose 1.3%.

In Russell 1000 gainers, the bid was led by drug and biotech names.

Halozyme Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) jumped 7.2% and Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) gained 3.4%, with Amgen adding 3.2% and AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) up 3.0%.

The moves look like a sector-wide rotation into defensives.

GlobalFoundries Inc. (NASDAQ:GFS) rose 5.0% after it was selected to operate two new semiconductor fabs in New York under a U.S.-Japan initiative, according to a company press release. Caris Life Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:CAI) climbed 4.8%.

On the Downside

AI infrastructure financing names were hit hardest.

CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) plunged 13.8% as a bond yield touching 15% and a "Yikes" reaction from Elon Musk weighed on the stock.

TeraWulf Inc. (NASDAQ:WULF) fell 9.3% and DigitalOcean Holdings Inc. (NYSE:DOCN) dropped 10.0%, trading in sympathy with CoreWeave and other neocloud peers such as IREN Ltd. (NASDAQ:IREN), which lost 8.5%.

Fermi Inc. (NASDAQ:FRMI) sank 9.3%, giving back part of Tuesday's 14% surge on AMD credit support for its Project Matador.

Affirm Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:AFRM) slid 9.2 as rate-sensitive fintechs sold off, with SoFi Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:SOFI) down 6.2% and Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) off 6.2%.

Elsewhere, Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL) fell 8.2% and Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) lost 6.5%, while Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) dropped 7.7% after a $1.2 billion money-laundering penalty drove an earnings miss.

Wednesday's Russell 1000 Top Gainers

Wednesday's Russell 1000 Top Losers