US stocks mixed; S&P 500, Nasdaq gain after soft PPI release By Investing.com

Investing.com– U.S. stocks traded largely higher, as further signs of cooling inflation lifted expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. 

At 06:20 ET (10:20 GMT), fell 150 points, or 0.4%, while traded 10 points, or 0.2%, higher and rose 100 points, or 0.6%. 

Benign PPI data helps tone

U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in May, as the producer price index dropped 0.2% last month after advancing by an unrevised 0.5% in April.

In the 12 months through May, the PPI increased 2.2% after rising 2.3% in April.

This followed data showing consumer prices unchanged in May for the first time in nearly two years, boosting financial market hopes that the Federal Reserve would start cutting interest rates in September.

The U.S. central bank on Wednesday kept its benchmark overnight interest rate unchanged, but Fed officials indicated that the central bank was now set to cut rates only once this year, down from a prior estimate in March for three cuts. 

Broadcom shines

The tech sector has been in the spotlight this week, after Apple (NASDAQ:) announced a slew of new AI features for its flagship devices, and that it was also partnering with OpenAI to implement some of the features, and cloud giant Oracle (NYSE:) announced AI partnerships with Alphabet (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:). 

This focus continued Thursday, as Broadcom (NASDAQ:) surged over 14% after the chipmaker clocked bumper earnings on AI demand. The firm also announced a 10-for-1 stock split.

Elsewhere, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment (NASDAQ:) stock fell over 8% after the company’s first-quarter revenue missed estimates.

Tesla (NASDAQ:) stock gained 5.5% after CEO Elon Musk said in a social media post that shareholders are backing his $56 billion pay package and a move by the electric vehicle giant to reincorporate in Texas from Delaware.

Crude edges higher after PPI release

Crude prices edged higher Thursday, helped by the cooling U.S. inflation, bouncing from losses after a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories. 

By 06:20 ET, the futures (WTI) traded 0.2% higher at $78.66 per barrel, while the Brent contract climbed 0.4% to $82.88 per barrel.

Government data, released on Wednesday, showed that U.S.  unexpectedly grew by 3.7 million barrels in the first week of June, against expectations for a draw of 1.2 million barrels.

Outsized builds in distillates and gasoline stockpiles also drove up concerns that fuel demand was not picking up with the summer season as expected. 

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)