US stocks looked set to snap a two-day losing streak on Thursday after Citigroup led a recovery in financial stocks and investors absorbed mixed economic data. As the earnings season gathers steam, investors will be scrutinising quarterly results and forecasts for any signs of impact from a slowing global economy.
US consumer prices declined the most in eight months as gasoline costs fell in September, but a rise in core CPI, which strips out food and energy costs, suggested inflation was starting to firm. Unemployment benefit claims, however, fell in the last week, pointing to a strong labor market. The conflicting data, coming on the back of weak retail sales numbers, added to the uncertainty over the timing of an interest rate increase as the Federal Reserve waits for signs of stabilising global economy.
At 12:11 pm ET (1611 GMT), the Dow Jones industrial average was up 43.82 points, or 0.26 percent, at 16,968.57, the S&P 500 was up 6.76 points, or 0.34 percent, at 2,001 and the Nasdaq composite index was up 20.50 points, or 0.43 percent, at 4,803.35. Citigroup rose 3.4 percent to $52.42 after the third biggest US bank's results beat estimates, while Goldman Sachs was up 1.3 percent at $181.86, despite weak results. Citi provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500 and the financial sector, which led the gainers among the 10 major S&P sectors with a 1.13 percent rise. Nike rose 2.2 percent to $128.60 after the world's largest sportswear maker said it expects revenue growth to be faster over the next five years.