Stock futures rose on Wednesday, led by gains in chipmakers, as traders reacted to more data showing inflation is cooling. S&P 500 futures gained 0.3%, while Nasdaq-100 futures added 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 99 points, or 0.2%. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) advanced more than 1%, led by a 3% gain in ASML. The semiconductor equipment maker hiked its sales outlook for the second time this year. Intel and Lam Research were up more than 2%. Investors grew optimistic on the state of inflation Wednesday after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said in a recent speech that “there are encouraging reasons to expect that inflation has peaked and should edge down in coming quarters.” The produce price index unexpectedly fell 0.3% in June, while economists had expected it to be unchanged on the month. That follows Tuesday’s cooler-than-expected consumer price index report, which bolstered hopes that the Fed may not need to raise interest rates as aggressively this year. The report prompted traders to scale back expectations for near-term Fed tightening. The probability of a rate hike at the central bank’s July meeting fell to 17% from 42% a day earlier, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. Markets, however, continue to price in an increase later this year, with traders assigning a 63% probability that rates will be a quarter- or half-percentage point higher following the September meeting. “While energy played a big role in the price deceleration, the easing was pretty broad and spread across a bunch of categories, a relief to investors,” Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note. “However, the Fed and economy aren’t in the clear—inflation is still elevated on an absolute basis, oil is back on an upswing, and AI is proving to be very inflationary at the moment.” While equity futures were higher, gains were limited as crude prices perked up, however. Treasury yields were relatively unchanged on Wednesday as traders weighed another tamer-than-expected inflation report as well as the latest move in oil prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note—the main benchmark for mortgages, auto loans, and credit card debt—was less than 1 basis point lower at 4.581%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note, which typically reacts in line with short-term Federal Reserve interest rate decisions, fell more than 2 basis points to 4.166%. The 30-year Treasury yield was up less than 1 basis point at 5.104%. Asia-Pacific markets opened higher Wednesday, with South Korea’s Kospi leading gains. The Kospi advanced 6.3% at open, while the small-cap Kosdaq gained 4%. Index heavyweights SK Hynix and Samsung added over 10% and 6%, respectively. The Korean exchange activated a buy-side sidecar on the Kospi after Kospi 200 futures rose 5%, with program trading halted for five minutes. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and the Topix each added 0.9%. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 0.6% higher. Mainland China stocks closed 0.2% lower at 4,786.78 in choppy trade after the country posted the slowest quarterly GDP growth since 2022, missing market expectations. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 1.4% in the last hour of trade on Wednesday. Oil prices edged higher Wednesday as U.S. forces carried out another round of strikes against Tehran and Washington reinstated its naval blockade of Iranian ports near the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures for August delivery rose 0.64% to $79.85 per barrel. September Futures for international benchmark Brent were up 0.58% at $85.22. Gold prices turned higher Wednesday after the release of the latest wholesale price report in the U.S. Earlier, gold had weakened as escalating tensions in the Middle East continued ​to stoke inflation concerns, ​reinforcing expectations of ​higher U.S. interest rates. Spot gold was 0.2% higher at $4,062 an ounce after earlier falling 0.7% to $4,027. Prices rose more than 2% to a session high of $4,100 an ounce on ⁠Tuesday ‌after soft U.S. inflation data. U.S. gold futures ⁠for August delivery were little changed at $4,069 after earlier sliding 0.9%.