Ticker: Inflation slows but prices remain elevated

The day’s business news at a glance

U.S. inflation slowed last month and a measure of underlying price pressures also cooled, suggesting higher oil and gas prices from the Iran war are only having a limited impact on broader costs in the economy.

Consumer prices rose 3.4% in July from a year ago, down slightly from 3.5% in June, the Labor Department said Wednesday. But inflation is still higher than before the Iran war began in February, when it was 2.4%. On a monthly basis, prices rose just 0.1% from June to July.

Suit aims to halt Truth Social fee

President Donald Trump was sued in federal court Wednesday to stop him from making money off a new, paid service at his Truth Social company offering early, exclusive access to his posts on U.S. policy.

The lawsuit alleges the service offering paying customers first-peek access to his posts on U.S. policy decisions violates the Constitution and that official announcements should be made available to everyone at the same time. The service is charging Wall Street firms as much as $100,000 a month to trade off the market-moving posts before others.

Brazil Supreme Court uphold soy laws

Brazil's Supreme Court has upheld state laws denying tax incentives to farmers who adhered to the country's soy moratorium. The court also affirmed the constitutionality of the voluntary agreement.

For nearly 20 years, the pact barred the purchase of soy grown on deforested Amazon land. Major grain traders withdrew from the moratorium in January after top soy-producing states revoked tax benefits for participating companies. Brazil is the world's largest soybean producer, accounting for about 40% of global output.

Jury selection begins in Meta youth harms trial

Jury selection began Wednesday in Meta's federal trial over claims its platforms have harmed youth mental health and track children in violation of federal law.

The trial is scheduled to begin next week and is expected to last six to eight weeks. Meta faces 29 states in the federal multidistrict lawsuit filed in 2023, but the Oakland trial will only include the first four -- California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.

Agency moves to drop subpoena against Nike

A federal civil rights agency is dropping a subpoena enforcement action against Nike, saying the company has complied with requests for information in an investigation into allegations that sportswear giant's diversity policies discriminated against white employees.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the motion to dismiss in Missouri federal court Wednesday, seven months after asking the court to order Nike to fully comply with the subpoena. In its court filing, the EEOC said that between March and August, Nike had provided "information and documents responsive to the subpoena," leaving "no remaining controversy" for the court to resolve.

Wall Street rises near a record as AI stocks climb

Wall Street finished just shy of a record after several AI stocks reported better growth for the spring than analysts expected, while a report showed inflation across the United States was slightly less bad last month.

The S&P 500 added 0.3% Wednesday for its first gain since setting its all-time high on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5%. Stocks like Nvidia and Super Micro Computer helped lead the way on signals that businesses continue to spend big dollars on AI infrastructure. Treasury yields eased following the latest inflation data.