US stocks rise after benign inflation data

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks climbed early Thursday following a benign US inflation report while strong Micron earnings lifted artificial intelligence shares.

The consumer price index climbed 2.7 percent from a year ago in November, notably below analysts’ predictions of a 3.1 percent uptick.

The figures boost the odds the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further in 2026.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent to 48,096.13.

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The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to 6,772.55, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.1 percent to 22,930.52.

Adam Sarhan of 50 Park Investments said the inflation data opens the door to more Fed rate cuts.

“The only thing stopping interest rates from going down would be inflation going up,” he said. “So the fact that inflation is going down is very, very, very powerful.”

Among individual stocks, chip company Micron Technology surged 13.5 percent after reporting that quarterly profits nearly tripled to $5.2 billion as it benefits from the AI boom.

Trump Media & Technology Group soared 27.5 percent after announcing it will merge with fusion power company TAE Technologies, which has received backing from Google and others seeking energy for AI development. The transaction is valued at more than $6 billion, the companies said in a joint statement.