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U.S. weekly jobless claims increase
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Producer prices unexpectedly fall in March
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Delta Air Lines down after Q1 earnings disappoint
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Harley-Davidson falls after CFO steps down
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Indexes up: Dow 0.46%, S&P 0.64%, Nasdaq 1.33%
(Updates prices, comments)
By Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas
April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes rose on Thursday
as a moderation in producer price inflation and jump in weekly
jobless claims brought relief to investors worried about how far
the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to tame surging
prices.
A Labor Department report showed producer prices
unexpectedly fell in March as the cost of gasoline declined, and
there were signs that underlying producer inflation was
subsiding.
Data also showed that the number of Americans filing new
claims for unemployment benefits increased more than expected
last week, a further sign that labor market conditions were
loosening up.
"We've got onto the top of the mountain of inflation and
looks like we're coming down the other side," said David
Russell, vice president of market intelligence at TradeStation.
"Inflation is coming down, but the process of Fed hiking
rates is not necessarily over yet."
The benchmark S&P 500 has traded in a tight range
this month, having recovered from a selloff in March fueled by
the recent banking crisis, as investors assessed the path for
U.S. interest rates.
Wall Street closed lower on Wednesday after data showed
consumer prices rose at a slower-than-expected pace in March,
however, core prices remained sticky and supported the case for
another 25-basis point rate hike by the Fed in May.
Investors mostly stuck to expectations of the 25-bps hike
after Thursday's data.
U.S. Treasury yields fell, boosting rate-sensitive
technology and other growth stocks. Apple Inc ,
Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp rose between
1.3% and 3.0%, helping the Nasdaq outperform the other Wall
Street indexes.
Communication services , consumer discretionary and technology shares led the gains among
major S&P 500 sector indexes, while economy-sensitive
stocks such as industrials were among the worst hit.
Minutes released on Wednesday from the Fed's latest policy
meeting indicated concerns of a recession following the banking
sector stress and that several policymakers considered pausing
rate hikes last month.
Big U.S. banks JPMorgan Chase & Co , Citigroup Inc and Wells Fargo & Co are scheduled to report
quarterly results on Friday, and investors will watch them
closely for details about the sector's overall health.
Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to record a profit decline
of 5.2% in the first quarter, as per Refinitiv IBES data, in
what could be their worst showing since the third quarter of
2020.
Financial companies that are part of the S&P 500 are
expected to report a profit growth of 4.3% in the first quarter.
At 11:50 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 153.51 points, or 0.46%, at 33,800.01, the S&P 500 was up 26.24 points, or 0.64%, at 4,118.19, and the Nasdaq
Composite was up 159.16 points, or 1.33%, at 12,088.50.
Delta Air Lines Inc's shares fell 1.5% as the
company missed first-quarter profit estimates.
Harley-Davidson Inc was down 4.% after the
motorcycle maker said Chief Financial Officer Gina Goetter was
leaving the company at the end of April.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.95-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.38-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and one new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 49 new highs and 106 new lows.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru;
Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)
