(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 12 mag - US shares were trading lower at midday after inflation grew at its highest rate in three years driven by fallout from the Iran war.

The US consumer price index grew an annual 3.8% in April, above expectations, due largely to the sharp rise in energy prices triggered by the Iran war. Stripping out volatile food and energy, prices grew 2.8%, above consensus of 2.7%.

Investors are concerned renewed inflationary pressure will prompt the Federal Reserve to put back timelines for lowering interest rates.

The Gulf conflict meanwhile continues to weigh on sentiment with US president Donald Trump saying the ceasefire with Iran is on 'massive life support' after Tehran's latest peace proposal which he dismissed as 'garbage'.

Iran has called for war reparations, full sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and a lifting of sanctions.

Oil prices continued to climb.

Trump meanwhile starts his China trip today with a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping. Trump is accompanied by 16 top CEOs including Tesla's Elon Musk and Apple's Tim Cook.

On the stocks front, shares in Venture Global were up 11.45% after the LNG producer reported a strong rise in profits.

Shares in GameStop was down 1.21% after the videogame retailer's 56-billion-dollar bid for eBay was rejected.

At 1524 GMT, the Dow Jones was down 280.73 points, or 0.56%, at 49,423.74 points.

The S&P 500 was 71.92 points, or 0.97%, lower at 7,340.92 points.

The Nasdaq was losing 440.37 points, or 1.70%, at 25,828.03.

points.

(RADIOCOR) 12-05-26 17:44:38 (0595) 5 NNNN