Investors Try to Shake off Inflation, Stocks Rise

Stocks rose on Thursday as traders weighed slightly hotter-than-expected inflation data and lingering global trade tensions.The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 90.93 points to pause for lunch Thursday at 44,459.49The S&P 500 index regained 28.19 points to 6,080.16The tech-heavy NASDAQ leaped 157.86 points to 19,807.81. The producer price index, which measures what producers get for their goods and services, reflected a 0.4% increase for January. That’s higher than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for 0.3%. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, was up 0.3% for the month and in-line with the forecast.Stocks rose on the data because despite the hotter number on the surface, the latest PPI report and Wednesday’s consumer price index data point to a softer PCE price index than traders feared. That measure, which will be released in February, is what the Federal Reserve closely tracks.A jump in big-name tech stocks also fueled Thursday’s gains. Nvidia gained more than 3.5% after Hewlett Packard Enterprise said it shipped its first solution using Nvidia’s Blackwell chip. AppLovin, the best-performing U.S. tech stock last year, soared by roughly 30% on earnings. Tesla rose more than 6%.Prices for the 10-year Treasury won new life, lowering yields to 4.54% from Wednesday’s 4.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.Oil prices traced back five cents to $71.32 U.S. a barrel. Prices for gold acquired $14.20 an ounce to $2,942.80 U.S.