Stocks Rise as CPI Report Keeps Rate Cut Hopes Alive; AI Enthusiasm Lifts Oracle Stock

The major U.S. stock indexes rose in early trading 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 S&P 500 was up 0.4% in early trading on Thursday, as was the Nasdaq Composite, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.3%. 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.

Shares of Oracle (ORCL) continued to climb in early trading on Thursday after posting 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 mostly higher Thursday morning. Shares of Nvidia (NVDA) were recently up more than 1%, while Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), and Tesla (TSLA) were all marginally higher. Shares of Alphabet (GOOG) and chipmaker Broadcom (AVGO) ticked down slightly.

Meme stock Opendoor (OPEN) soared more than 30% Thursday morning after the online homebuying company named Kaz Nejatian, chief operating officer of e-commerce platform Shopify (SHOP), to be its new CEO. Shares of buy now, pay later provider Klarna (KLAR) ticked up after soaring nearly 15% in their trading debut on Wednesday.

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 4.03% from 4.05% at Wednesday’s close.

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 1.4% to $62.75 a barrel.

The price of Bitcoin was recently at $113,800, 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 0.1% at 97.70.