Thursday’s midday trade: S&P 500 brushes off rising inflation to hit record high

NEW YORK: US stocks rose on Thursday and the S&P 500 hit a record intraday high as investors juggled signs of a swift economic recovery with concerns over the Federal Reserve tapering its massive monetary stimulus.

The Labour Department said its consumer price index increased by a more-than-expected 0.6% last month. In the 12 months through May, CPI accelerated at its biggest year-on-year increase since August 2008.

The S&P 500 hit a record high of 4,249.74. But heavyweight technology stocks were among the top performers, indicating that investors were still sticking to sectors that had proven reliable through the Covid-19 pandemic.

At 11:39 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 123.39 points, or 0.36%, at 34,570.53 and the S&P 500 was up 18.18 points, or 0.43%, at 4,237.73. The Nasdaq Composite was up 65.48 points, or 0.47%, at 13,977.23.

GameStop Corp, the stock most closely associated with the retail buying frenzy this year, fell 14.7% after the company said it may sell new shares, and that the SEC had asked for certain documents as part of its investigation into the stock’s rally this year.

Boeing rose 0.8% after sources told Reuters United Airlines was in talks to place a multi-billion-dollar order for single-aisle jets potentially split between Boeing and Europe’s Airbus.