US stocks advance as inflation data cements December rate-cut hopes

A Labor Department report showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.3% on a monthly basis in November, compared with the 0.3% increase forecast by economists polled by Reuters. Annually, it stood at 2.7%, in line with estimates.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile components such as food and energy, came in at 3.3% as expected.

“Everything’s exactly in line with estimates … it’s very likely that you will see the Fed probably go ahead with what they projected, cutting 25 basis points (later this month),” said David Miller, chief investment officer at Catalyst Funds.

Bets on the Fed cutting 25 basis point cut next week jumped to over 96%, compared with an 86% chance before the data, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. Bets had risen following Friday’s employment report, which showed an uptick in unemployment alongside a surge in job growth.

Also expected this week is a producer prices reading on Thursday.Yields on U.S. government bonds also slipped after the data, with the yield on the 10-year note last at 4.2108%. Yields move inversely to prices.At 9:35 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 91.53 points, or 0.21%, to 44,339.36, the S&P 500 gained 34.06 points, or 0.56%, to 6,068.97 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 187.52 points, or 0.95%, to 19,874.76.

Eight of the 11 major S&P sub-sectors were trading higher, with consumer discretionary rising 1.3%, while communication services added 1.8%.

Most megacap and growth stocks were higher early on, with Tesla up 1.8% and Amazon.com gaining 2%.

Despite running into some turbulence earlier this week, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are hovering near their all-time highs, as investors bought into heavyweight technology stocks all through the year in a bid to catch up with the artificial intelligence hype.

Another tailwind for equities was former President Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election in November, as analysts believe his policies on lower corporate taxes and eased regulation could boost corporate performance.

Among other movers, GameStop gained 5.2% after the videogame retailer reported a profit for the third quarter on cost-saving efforts.

Broadcom jumped 3.5% following a report that Apple is developing its first server chip specially designed for artificial intelligence with the company.

Macy’s slumped 12% after the department-store bellwether cut its annual profit forecast as persistent weakness in demand clouded its expectations for the holiday shopping season.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.85-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted eight new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 39 new highs and 26 new lows.