U.S. stocks traded at fresh three-month highs Thursday morning after another batch of July data suggested inflation may be easing.How stocks are faring
S&P 500
SPX,
+0.31%
rose 19 points, or 0.5%, to 4,229.
Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.42%
climbed 203 points, or 0.6%, to 33,512.
Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.05%
added 25 points, or 0.2%, to 12,879.
On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.42%
rose 535 points, or 1.63%, to 33310, the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.31%
increased 88 points, or 2.13%, to 4210, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.05%
gained 361 points, or 2.89%, to 12855. The S&P 500 is up 14.8% from its 2022 closing low hit in mid-June but remains down 11.7% for the year to date.
What’s driving markets Stocks surged to their highest levels since early May after the July producer-price index fell 0.5%, compared with expectations for a 0.2% rise, although the three main U.S. stock benchmarks have pared their gains somewhat heading into afternoon trading in New York. See: U.S. producer price inflation moderates in July Thursday’s optimistic inflation report followed a similarly cooler-than-expected reading on U.S. consumer-price growth released a day earlier. That data also helped send stocks soaring, with the Nasdaq ex …