NEW YORK — Wall Street inched to more records on Wednesday following a surprisingly encouraging report on inflation and a stunning forecast for growth from Oracle because of the artificial-intelligence boom.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and set an all-time high for a second straight day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 220 points, or 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1 percent after both likewise set records the day before.

Stocks have hit records in large part because Wall Street is expecting the economy to pull off a delicate balancing act: slowing enough to convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, but not so much that it causes a recession, all while inflation remains under control.

Many things must go right for that to happen, and an e

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