The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 764 points, or 2.3%. The S&P 500 jumped 3.7%, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 5%. The consumer price index, a broad measure of the cost of goods and services, rose just 0.4% for the month and 7.7% from a year ago. This was the lowest annual increase since January. Economists had expected increases of 0.6% and 7.9%, according to Dow Jones. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, the so-called core CPI rose 0.3% for the month and 6.3% year-on-year, also less than expected. “It certainly shows how much the markets have been central, they’re worried and they want to run on CPI if you get any kind of help here,” NatWest’s John Briggs said. “It just brings to the fore the idea of peak inflation, peak Fed…The Fed will slow down and peak rather than continue to aggressively hike to 75 basis points like every time.” Bond yields fell after the CPI report, with the yield on the 10-year bond falling more than 18 basis points to 3.946%, falling below the key 4% level. The yield on the 2-year note fell more than 23 basis points to 4.395%. Technology stocks that have been hit hardest this year as inflation and interest rates have risen led the gains in early trading. Nvidia and Tesla rose 7.5% and 5.7%, respectively. Salesforce rose 7%. Apple gained 5%. Semiconductor stocks rose, with shares of Lam Research and Applied Materials each gaining more than 5 percent. UCK also scored 3.7%. Thursday’s advance reignited a comeback rally that began in mid-October but stalled in recent weeks. The Dow touched its highest level since August on Thursday and the S&P 500 neared the 3,900 level, which has been key resistance for the market.
