US stocks rise ahead of inflation data

NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks advanced early Thursday ahead of key US inflation data expected to inform upcoming Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.

Stocks moved sideways following Wednesday’s solid US employment data, which offered encouraging signs on the economy but likely lowers the odds of imminent interest rate cuts.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5 percent at 50,388.83.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 6,971.24, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 percent to 23,149.97.

READ MORE: S&P 500, Dow muted after jobs data

Among individual companies, McDonald’s gained 0.9 percent after reporting strong fourth-quarter results following successful holiday-oriented marketing campaigns around low prices.

Cisco Systems dropped 6.9 percent on disappointment over the tech company’s earnings forecast.

“It’s guidance was only in line with expectations,” Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said of Cisco.

“That isn’t good enough for a company operating in a growth industry and that made a big move higher ahead of its report. Therefore, it is in rebate mode at the moment.”