Stocks jumped Thursday, with Big Tech leading, as traders cheered another report pointing to cooling U.S. inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrials gained 184.76 points to pause Thursday for noon at 33,831.26.
The S&P 500 recovered 31.25 points to 4,123.20.
The NASDAQ leaped 177.25 points, or 1.5%, to 12,106.58.
Tech stocks outperformed, with both the communication services and information technology sectors among the notable gainers in the S&P 500. Megacap tech stocks advanced, with shares of Amazon, Google-parent Alphabet and Meta each up more than 2%. Tesla shares also rose 2%.
The March producer prices index, a measure of prices paid by companies and often a leading indicator of consumer inflation, declined by 0.5% month over month versus expectations for prices to be flat. Excluding food and energy, the core wholesale prices reading shed 0.1% month over month, much better than the 0.2% increase expected by economists polled by Dow Jones.
Wednesday's release of March's consumer price index report showed headline inflation pressures eased last month. The CPI advanced just 0.1% month over month in March. Consumer prices grew 5% on an annual basis, the smallest increase in nearly two years.
Traders' sentiment turned in the afternoon following the release of minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee meeting. In particular, the Fed expects the recent banking crisis to cause a mild recession later this year.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury fell by noon, raising yields to 3.42% from Wednesday's 3.40%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices backpedaled 68 cents to $82.58 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hung onto gains of $27.20 to $2,052.10 U.S. an ounce.