Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 4, 2025.
NYSE
Stocks edged higher Thursday as traders weighed slightly hotter-than-expected inflation data and lingering global trade tensions.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 63 points, or 0.1%. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6%.
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.
Shares of big-name tech players jumped, helping gains. Nvidia gained 2.5% 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 more than 32% on earnings. Tesla rose more than 4%.
Wall Street is coming off a choppy session after a data on Wednesday showed consumer prices sped up faster-than-expected, curbing expectations of the next rate cut out to September.
Investors are also grappling with rising global trade tension. On Wednesday, the White House said President Donald Trump would impose reciprocal tariffs on imported goods before meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump posted on Truth Social that there will be a “news conference on reciprocal tariffs” at 1pm ET on Thursday.
