VFC - Stocks Gain on More Encouraging Inflation News

Stocks rose Wednesday, building on the strong rally from the previous session, on the back of more encouraging inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrials took on 100.79 points to break for lunch at 34,928.49.

The S&P 50 index gained 9.55 points to 4,505.69.

The NASDAQ advanced 27.83 points to 14,122.21.

In corporate news, Target popped 17% on better-than-expected results for the third quarter. Shares of apparel company VF added nearly 15% following a JPMorgan upgrade to neutral from underweight.

These gains came after October's consumer price index, a key inflation metric, came in lower than the 0.1% increase economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected. Instead, the CPI came in flat on a monthly basis. Investors celebrated the news, sending stocks soaring on the hopes that the Federal Reserve could finally put an end to its rate-hiking campaign.

October's producer price index, which measures wholesale prices, fell by 0.5% to mark its biggest monthly drop since April 2020. Not all of the economic data was positive, however, since retail sales also declined.

Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell, raising yields to 4.55% from Tuesday's 4.45%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices backpedaled $1.26 to $77.00 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices slumped $2.30 to $1,964.20.