Updates with final closing prices, volume data
By Sinéad Carew and Shashwat Chauhan
Sept 11 (Reuters) - All three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher on Wednesday with a boost from the technology sector offsetting investor disappointment at an early morning inflation report, which crushed hopes the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates by 50 basis points week.
The S&P 500 technology index .SPLRCT finished up 3.3% after opening lower with a big boost from AI chipmaker Nvidia NVDA.O, which added 8%. It was helped by a Semafor report that the U.S. government is considering letting Nvidia export advanced chips to Saudi Arabia.
Political developments also drove market sentiment the day after Democrat candidate Kamala Harris put her Republican rival Donald Trump on the defensive in a combative U.S. presidential debate.
Earlier, the Labor Department reported the consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% last month, in line with July. Core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy components, rose 0.3% on a monthly basis, exceeding economist expectations for a 0.2% rise.
Traders changed their bets to a 85% probability for a 25 basis points cut by the Fed from 66% on Tuesday and the probability of a 50 basis point cut fell to 15% from 34% a day ago, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
"Maybe the market was looking for a softer inflation print which would give the Fed more reason to cut by 50 basis points week." said Jack Janasiewicz, portfolio manager, at Natixis. "This report was in-line to slightly hotter than expectations. As a result, this puts a bit of pressure on the Fed to cut by only 25 basis points."
As the day wore on investors may have come to terms with the inflation , according to Janasiewicz who also pointed to technology as the stand out "which has helped prop up the broader market."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 124.75 points, or 0.31%, to 40,861.71, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 58.61 points, or 1.07%, to 5,554.13 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 369.65 points, or 2.17%, to 17,395.53.
Six of the S&P 500's 11 major sectors advanced on the day with consumer discretionary .SPLRCD the second biggest gainer, up 1.3%. Among the sector laggards, energy .SPNY lost 0.93% followed closely by consumer staples .SPLRCS, down 0.88%.
The S&P 500 financial index .SPSY pared losses to close down just 0.39%. At its session low, it was down more than 2%.
Its biggest gainer was American Express AXP.N, whose financial chief told a conference that credit was strong and consumer spending stable.
Some big U.S. lenders also advanced, rebounding from early tumbles. Goldman Sachs GS.N closed up 0.9% while JPMorgan JPM.N added 0.8%. The sector was hit Tuesday by warnings of a dip in trading revenue, a slower-than-anticipated recovery in investment banking and an expected hit to interest income from looming rate cuts.
After the Presidential debate and with eight weeks left until the election, contracts for a Harris victory are trading at 57 cents, with a potential $1 payout, up from 53 cents before the debate, on the PredictIt politics betting platform. Trump contracts are trading at 48 cents versus 52 cents beforehand.
As a result, stocks expected to perform well under a Trump presidency fell, with cryptocurrency and blockchain-related shares and prison operators lower. Trump Media & Technology Group DJT.O shares slumped 10.5%.
Meanwhile, solar stocks, seen as benefiting from a Harris administration, rallied. First Solar FSLR.O added 15.2% while Sunrun RUN.O rose 11.3% and SolarEdge Technologies SEDG.O advanced 8.5%.
While the debate offered Wall Street little clarity on key policy issues, some market watchers see Harris' proposals to raise the corporate tax rate as likely to hit company profits, while Trump's tougher stance on tariffs could stoke inflation.
GameStop GME.N shares fell almost 12% after the videogame retailer said it had filed for an offering of up to 20 million shares and reported lower second-quarter revenue.
Shares of lithium miners jumped after Chinese battery giant CATL 300750.SZ said it plans to make adjustments to lithium carbonate production in Yichun. Albemarle ALB.N, one of the largest lithium miners in the world, jumped 13.6%.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.4-to-1 ratio on the NYSE where there were 342 highs and 130 lows.
On the Nasdaq, 2,337 stocks rose and 1,882 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.24-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted 21 52-week highs and 17 lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 48 highs and 129 lows.
On U.S. exchanges 12.19 billion shares changed hands compared with the 10.80 billion 20 day moving average.
(Reporting by Sinead Carew in New York; additional Reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco; Shashwat Chauhan and Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Maju Samuel and David Gregorio)
((sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com; Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com))