 Stocks have made a U-turn and are now mixed in afternoon trading and pairing from earlier gains as cooling inflation is boosting rate cut hopes. Consumer prices were flat from April to May, the mildest performance in more than four years. Measured from a year earlier, prices rose 2.6% last month, slightly less than in April. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation rose one-tenth of a percent from April to May, which was the smallest increase since the spring of 2020.