(Sharecast News) - Major indices were in the green early on Thursday as market participants digested last month's cooler-than-expected consumer price index reading.
As of 1505 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.37% at 48,064.11, while the S&P 5000 advanced 0.74% to 6,771.22 and the Nasdaq Composite came out of the gate 1.03% firmer at 22,927.86.
The Dow opened 178.14 points higher on Thursday, taking a bite out of losses recorded in the previous session as traders continued to cycle out of tech stocks amid concerns surrounding high capital costs associated with massive data center deals.
Thursday's primary focus will undoubtedly be November's consumer price index, which revealed inflation eased in November, coming in below expectations to hit its lowest level since July. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index slipped to 324.12 points last month, down from 324.80 in September, while annual inflation slowed to 2.7%, below the 3.1% expected by analysts and down from 3% in September. Core inflation stood at 2.6%, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, also below consensus expectations of 3%.
Energy prices rose 4.2%, food costs climbed 2.6% and shelter was up 3%. Other notable increases included medical care at 2.9%, household furnishings and operations at 4.6%, recreation at 1.8%, and used cars and trucks at 3.6%.
Today's CPI reading also marked the first consumer inflation report to be published since the Federal government shutdown ended back in November.
Elsewhere on the macro front, Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 13 December, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims fell by 13,000 week-on-week to a seasonally adjusted reading of 224,000, down from the prior week's upwardly revised reading of 237,000 and just below market forecasts of 225,000. Continuing claims, on the other hand, rose to 1.89m from a downwardly revised 1.83m, though they were below forecasts of 1.93m, while the four week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, increased by 500 to 217,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate came in at 1.2% for the week ending 6 December, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate.
On another note, manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region weakened further in December, with the headline index slipping deeper into negative territory and marking the third straight month of contraction, highlighting ongoing softness across the sector. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index dropped 8.5 points to 10.2 in December, down from 1.7 in November and below consensus expectations for a more modest decline to 3.1.
Still to come, the Kansas Federal Reserve's December manufacturing index will follow at 1600 GMT.
In the corporate space, Olive Garden parent company Darden Restaurants said total sales increased 7.3% to $3.1bn in the three months ended 23 November, fuelled by a blended same-restaurant sales increase of 4.3% and sales from 30 net new restaurants, while professional services firm Accenture posted first quarter earnings of $3.94 per share, $0.20 ahead of analysts' expectations, while revenues of $18.7bn were also ahead of the $18.51bn expected on the Street.
Still to come, Nike and FedEx were both slated to report their latest quarterly earnings after the close.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
Dow Jones - Risers
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $365.18 2.36%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $887.39 1.73%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $570.73 1.57%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $100.57 1.40%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $66.51 1.25%
American Express Co. (AXP) $380.00 1.17%
Boeing Co. (BA) $208.31 0.96%
3M Co. (MMM) $163.63 0.90%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $480.67 0.67%
Visa Inc. (V) $345.71 0.38%
Dow Jones - Fallers
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.76 -2.55%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $268.55 -2.48%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $76.89 -1.46%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $327.62 -1.21%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $300.48 -0.94%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $148.30 -0.82%
Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $22.90 -0.74%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $325.70 -0.56%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $289.77 -0.51%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $40.69 -0.45%
S&P 500 - Risers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $261.60 10.82%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $88.83 3.92%
NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) $154.97 3.67%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $194.57 3.62%
Oracle Corp. (ORCL) $184.39 3.32%
Corning Inc. (GLW) $88.24 3.30%
Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $4.28 3.26%
United Rentals Inc. (URI) $818.36 3.26%
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) $1,073.94 3.09%
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) $126.13 3.08%
S&P 500 - Fallers
Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) $45.75 -8.42%
HP Inc (HPQ) $23.15 -5.24%
NetApp Inc. (NTAP) $108.43 -4.98%
TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) $14.48 -3.47%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $329.47 -3.43%
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $205.04 -2.84%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $64.53 -2.74%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $59.68 -2.64%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.76 -2.55%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $268.55 -2.48%
Nasdaq 100 - Risers
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $261.60 10.82%
Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) $88.87 3.97%
Cintas Corp. (CTAS) $194.57 3.62%
Hasbro Inc (HAS) $81.80 2.74%
Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD) $121.28 2.06%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $703.14 1.64%
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc. (ULTA) $595.25 1.63%
eBay Inc. (EBAY) $83.57 1.49%
DENTSPLY Sirona Inc. (XRAY) $11.44 1.37%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $21.78 1.30%
Nasdaq 100 - Fallers
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $475.11 -3.52%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $329.47 -3.43%
Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $64.53 -2.74%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $59.68 -2.64%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $36.76 -2.55%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $269.20 -2.25%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $15.64 -2.10%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $160.52 -2.05%
Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) $273.68 -1.98%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $299.85 -1.83%
63.45 (0.65%)
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