The Dow Jones Industrial average and the other major U.S. stock market indexes struggled Wednesday after inflation rose to 3.5%, leaving investors uncertain about whether the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year as hoped. The consumer price index for March showed the annual inflation rate up from 3.2% in February, primarily because of rising rents and gas prices. Economists had predicted an annual inflation rate of 3.4% — still down from 2022 highs, but well below the Fed’s target rate of 2%.

The release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes later in the afternoon was also not encouraging to investors, as it showed central bank officials expressing uncertainty about the possibility of inflation falling. Even so, the Fed is expected to cut interest rates at some point later in the year. The Fed currently sets its benchmark interest rate between 5.25% and 5.5%.

The Dow closed down 422 points, or 1.1%, to 38,461 after recovering some ground from a drop of more than 500 points earlier in the day. The S&P closed down almost 1% and the Nasdaq was off about 0.8%.

Trump Media stock drops another 10%

Trump Media & Technology Group stock fell another 10% on Wednesday as the shares traded at their lowest point since the company debuted on the public market. Shares in the company behind former President Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social hit a new low of $34 on Wednesday afternoon, bringing Trump Media’s market capitalization to approximately $4.6 billion. As of Wednesday, the company had almost halved its market value from highs of more than $8 billion during its first trading week.

Trump Media went public on the Nasdaq under the ticker DJT on March 26, after completing its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (or SPAC).

Meta stock pops up after releasing its AI chip

Meta debuted a model of its AI chip on Wednesday, which it said is three times more efficient than its first one. Meta’s next-generation MTIA comes just a day after Google and Intel showed off their own new AI chips. The three big AI chip arrivals could signal a threat to Nvidia’s dominance of the AI accelerator market, of which it holds a 75% share.

The move slightly raised the stock by 0.2% to $518.

Following a correction period, Nvidia recovers

AI chipmaker Nvidia’s stock was up about 1.7% late afternoon, a day after falling into correction territory as Google parent Alphabet and Intel each unveiled new chips to compete with Nvidia. Moreover, Nvidia employees are getting a one-time “Jensen special grant” of an additional 25% of stock units Business Insider reports. The stock was trading at $868 in the late afternoon.

Deckers Outdoor is down

Footwear company Deckers Outdoor saw its stock dip 8% after Truist downgraded it to hold. The downgrade came after concerns were raised over a decline in demand for core products. The stock was trading around $798 in the late afternoon.

—Britney Nguyen, Rocio Fabbro, and Laura Bratton contributed to this article.