The main U.S. stock indexes rose on Friday as a pullback in oil prices offered relief, setting stocks on course to end a rough week on a positive note though data showed consumer price inflation accelerated in August. Dell DELL.N DELL.N jumped over 11% to hit a record high. Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE.N HPE.N rose nearly 10% and HP HPQ.N HPQ.N gained about 7%, after strong results from Oracle ORCL.N ORCL.N . The gains ease some pressure at a time when fluctuating rate expectations, the intensifying Middle East conflict and elevated Treasury yields have weighed on equities.
The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% last month after edging up 0.1% in July. In the 12 months through August, consumer inflation advanced 3.4%, in line with July’s gains. The report followed Thursday’s slightly hotter-than-expected Producer Price Index reading. Traders see an 87% chance of a hike at the Fed’s next meeting, compared with nearly 70% before the CPI, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
At 11:52 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI .DJI rose 530.49 points, or 1.02%, to 52,593.73; the S&P 500 .SPX .SPX gained 79.68 points, or 1.05%, to 7,671.38; and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC .IXIC gained 318.32 points, or 1.22%, to 26,400.04. Still, the Dow was on course for its steepest weekly decline since March. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were also set to end two-week winning streaks. The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX .VIX , Wall Street’s fear gauge, fell 2.08 points to 15.76.
Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes traded in the green, with the communication services .SPLRCL .SPLRCL and technology indexes .SPLRCT .SPLRCT leading gains. Brent crude futures LCOc1 slipped about 3% but were still above $104 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 fell 3% but were close to the $100-a-barrel mark.
Meanwhile, Oracle inched up nearly 1% after topping estimates for quarterly results late Thursday, which reassured shareholders that its AI investments were generating returns. Shares of ACV Auctions ACVA.N ACVA.N soared 44% after online vehicle auctioneer Copart CPRT.O CPRT.O agreed to buy it in a nearly $1.9 billion deal.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.07-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.8-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and six new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 38 new highs and 128 new lows.
Reporting by Niket Nishant, Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das.
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