Stocks are on the rise this Thursday, as Wall Street takes a moment to breathe after receiving the latest update on inflation in the United States.

At midday, the S&P 500 saw a 0.6% increase, potentially marking only its second positive day out of the past eight.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average showed a gain of 231 points, equivalent to a 0.7% rise, reaching 35,455 by 11:40 a.m. Eastern time. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq composite experienced a 0.7% uptick.

The much-anticipated report unveiled on Thursday revealed that consumer prices in the U.S. rose by 3.2% in July compared to the previous year, the Associated Press reported.

This figure is slightly more modest than the 3.3% inflation rate forecasted by economists and significantly lower than the peak of over 9% witnessed last summer.

Delving deeper, the underlying inflation trends remained in line with expectations. These findings have bolstered investor optimism, as they indicate progress in the Federal Reserve’s efforts to mitigate inflation.

There is even speculation that the Fed might consider scaling back its interest rate hikes.

Elevated interest rates have the effect of curbing inflation by slowing down economic activity and dampening investment values, which, in turn, increases the risk of a recession.

Written by staff