US stocks rise as soft producer prices lift Fed hold bets
US stocks stayed mostly higher Thursday after lower-than-expected July headline and core producer prices reinforced expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hold next month, while chip shares led gains.
US stocks remained mostly higher on Thursday after soft price data consolidated bets of a Federal Reserve rate hold next month.
The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to a new record and the Nasdaq jumped 0.8%.
Headline and core producer prices were lower than expected in July, aligned with the tame CPI report from yesterday and limiting recent concerns of hawkish signals by FOMC members.
Chip stocks extended gains from yesterday, tracking counterparts in South Korea.
Reports that Anthropic is chasing an IPO and is aiming to acquire Decart AI for $6 billion continued to underpin the outlook for compute expenditures.
Micron, Intel, and Marvel rose more than 6%, while Sandisk surged 15%.
In turn, Cisco slumped 8% after it projected a slowdown in sales tied to AI data centers for this fiscal year.
Also, bank holdings and industrial companies pulled back with Bank of America and RTX each dropping 1.5%, pressuring the Dow to below the flatline.