A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after a surprisingly hot wholesale inflation report fueled investor concerns about persistent price pressures. The Producer Price Index (PPI), a key measure of inflation at the wholesale level, increased by 0.5% in January, significantly higher than the 0.3% anticipated by economists. More concerning was the core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, as it surged by 0.8%, far exceeding the expected 0.3% rise. This data suggests that