The major U.S. stock indexes rose to fresh record highs on Thursday after consumer inflation data came in as expected, adding to Wall Street’s conviction that the Federal Reserve will resume rate cuts next week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.2% in early trading on Thursday, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at fresh record highs yesterday, boosted by cool wholesale inflation data and a blockbuster earnings report from Oracle.
Consumer inflation data came in largely as expected on Thursday, with headline inflation accelerating to 2.9% in August and core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, holding steady at 3.1%. The data comes after yesterday’s Producer Price Index showed wholesale prices unexpectedly fell slightly last month.
Thursday’s inflation print is the last piece of pivotal economic data the Federal Reserve will get before its policy meeting next week. Policymakers will consider the details of both of this week’s inflation reports to determine whether to cut rates to support the weakening labor market despite the risk that tariffs could fuel inflation, which remains well above the Fed’s 2% target. Investors are increasingly confident that the Fed is on track to cut interest rates for the first time in nearly a year.
Treasury yields fell following Thursday’s inflation data as investors priced in imminent interest rate cuts. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note, which influences rates on a variety of consumer and commercial loans, declined to 4.01% from 4.05% at Wednesday’s close.
Shares of Oracle (ORCL) slipped 4% on Thursday after soaring more than 35% yesterday, their best day since 1992, following a blowout earnings report. The cloud computing company’s backlog ballooned to nearly half a trillion dollars last quarter, a sign to many on Wall Street that the artificial intelligence buildout is likely to be a boon to tech companies for years to come.
Mega-cap tech stocks were mixed Thursday morning. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were recently up more than 3%, while Apple (AAPL) advanced about 1%. Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META) were little changed, as Alphabet (GOOG) dipped 0.5% and Broadcom (AVGO) fell 1%.
Shares of Micron (MU) surged 8% after a price target boost from Citi analysts who expect the chipmaker’s guidance, due with its quarterly earnings later this month, to handily exceed estimates. Opendoor (OPEN) jumped more than 50% Thursday morning after the online homebuying company named Kaz Nejatian, chief operating officer of e-commerce platform Shopify (SHOP), to be its new CEO.
Gold prices were recently down 0.5% at $3,665 an ounce after hitting a fresh record earlier in the week. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, declined 1.9% to $62.50 a barrel.
The price of Bitcoin was recently at $114,600, near its highest price this week. The cryptocurrency has come under pressure recently after running up to a record high of more than $124,000 in mid-August.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, was down 0.2% at 97.55.