U.S. stocks ended mixed on Thursday, as investors once again bought the dip despite a disappointing wholesale inflation report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 11.01 points, or 0.02 percent, to close at 44,911.26. The Standard and Poor's 500 inched up 1.96 points, or 0.03 percent, to 6,468.54, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped 2.47 points, or 0.01 percent, to 21,710.67. Earlier in the day, both the Standard and Poor's and Nasdaq were down as much as 0.4 percent before recovering, while the Dow had been more than 200 points lower at one point.
Seven of the 11 major Standard and Poor's 500 sectors declined, with industrials and materials leading declines, down 0.88 percent and 0.81 percent, respectively. Financials and health care were the top gainers, rising 0.55 percent and 0.5 percent.
The producer price index (PPI), which tracks prices for final demand goods and services, surged 0.9 percent in July, the largest jump since June 2022, far exceeding the Dow Jones estimate of a 0.2 percent increase, according to a Thursday report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, also rose 0.9 percent, tripling the projected 0.3 percent. When excluding food, energy and trade services, the index climbed 0.6 percent, the fastest pace since March 2022.
On an annual basis, the headline PPI rose 3.3 percent, the largest increase since February, while core PPI rose 3.7 percent.
Despite the stronger-than-expected inflation figure, traders continued to anticipate a September interest rate cut, with fed funds futures pricing in roughly a 93 percent probability, only marginally lower than the prior day, according to the CME FedWatch tool.
Mega-cap technology stocks mostly rose. Amazon gained 2.87 percent, while Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Broadcom posted smaller gains. Tesla fell 1 percent, and Apple edged slightly lower.
U.S. stocks close mixed on hot wholesale inflation
