US stocks had their best day in a month after a Fed official hinted rates could stay put, good news for investors worried about another hike.

• Fed governor Christopher Waller said he would back holding rates steady if inflation pressure keeps cooling.
• Traders cut their bets on a near-term rate hike sharply, from about two-in-three odds to a coin flip.
• Rising oil prices had been pushing government bond yields up and stoking inflation fears; those yields fell back, lifting stocks.
• Nvidia rose after announcing a $12.9 billion deal to buy developer platform Hugging Face, taking aim at OpenAI and Anthropic.
• Snowflake soared on a strong revenue forecast, while Broadcom slipped on a weak sales outlook.

Outlook: Markets will hang on the next inflation and oil price readings, which will decide whether the Fed really stays on hold this month.