STORY: Wall Street's main indexes notched record-high closes on Thursday with the Dow adding about one-and-a-third percent, the S&P 500 climbing more than eight tenths and the Nasdaq rising about seven tenths.
U.S. consumer prices rose more than expected in August and the annual increase in inflation was the largest in seven months.
A separate report showed initial jobless claims increased for the week ended September 6 to the highest level in nearly four years
Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist with CFRA Research says markets cheered the latest data, which ensures the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its meeting later this month.
“Well, the stocks are up across the board today, I think primarily because the weaker than expected employment report really is now causing investors to say a September cut is assured, but also because we had slightly warmer month on month readings for CPI, the chance of a 50 basis point cut has been taken off the table, but a third cut has been added. So meaning 25 basis points in September, October, and December. So those three factors together I think have caused investors not only to cover whatever shorts there might have been, but also add new money.”
Shares of Tesla also boosted markets with a six percent gain.
As did Micron Technology shares, which jumped seven and a half percent after Citigroup raised its price target on the memory chipmaker's stock.
And shares of Warner Brothers Discovery leapt 29% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Paramount Skydance is preparing a majority cash bid for the struggling media company.
