Investing.com – Wall Street rose higher after the morning bell, as investors dismiss inflation fears.
The S&P 500 was up 14 points or 0.55% to 2,713.47 as of 9:52 AM ET (14:52 GMT) while the Dow composite increased 208 points or 0.84% to 25,102.25, and tech heavy NASDAQ Composite rose 52 points or 0.73% to 7,196.07.
Markets are recovering from volatile trading last week, when all three major indexes ended the week with a fall of more than 5% each amid worry over rising inflation. The consumer price index rose to 0.5% in January, beating expectations of a 0.3% rise, the Labor Department reported on Wednesday. The increase in inflation supports the Federal Reserve raising interest rates this year, with many analysts expecting three rate increases.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stocks were among the biggest movers after the morning bell, rising 2.35% after it announced it was looking to spend its build up of cash, as traders speculate it will increase its dividend. Meanwhile Teva Pharma Industries Ltd ADR (NYSE:TEVA) surged 9.88% while TripAdvisor Inc (NASDAQ:TRIP) rose 14.05% after it reported higher than expected earnings results.
Elsewhere Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) was down 4.16% while Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) dipped 0.65% and semiconductor Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU) inched down 0.37%.
Investors remained unphased by mixed economic data. The number of people who filed for unemployment assistance in the U.S. last week rebounded from near 45-year lows, but was still in line with expectations.
Meanwhile U.S. producer prices rose by 0.4% while the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing index rose to nearly three points to 25.8. In another report, the Empire State manufacturing index fell to a reading of 13.10 from 17.70 in January. Any reading above zero indicates improving conditions, below indicates worsening conditions.
In Europe stocks were up. In Germany the DAX rose 32 points or 0.26% while France’s CAC 40 increased 68 points or 1.32% and in London the FTSE 100 gained 31 points or 0.43%. Meanwhile Spain’s IBEX 35 was up 36 points or 0.38% and the pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 inched up 15 points or 0.36%.
In commodities, gold futures were down 0.12% to $1,356.40 a troy ounce while crude oil futures fell 0.43% to $60.34 a barrel. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, fell 0.34% to 88.61.