NEW YORK, June 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday, lifted by easing inflation concerns and a surge in Oracle shares, even as trade tensions and corporate headwinds kept investors cautious.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 101.85 points, or 0.24 percent, to 42,967.62. The S&P 500 added 23.02 points, or 0.38 percent, to 6,045.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 46.61 points, or 0.24 percent, to 19,662.49.
Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with utilities and technology leading the gainers by adding 1.26 percent and 1.01 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services and consumer discretionary led the laggards by losing 0.59 percent and 0.41 percent, respectively.
The U.S. producer price index for May rose just 0.1 percent from April, below economist expectations of a 0.2 percent increase, suggesting modest inflationary pressure at the wholesale level, according to data issued on Thursday. On an annual basis, wholesale prices were up 2.6 percent, a slight uptick from April's 2.4 percent, but still aligned with forecasts. Core producer inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy, also came in softer than expected.
"Concerns about widespread increases in producer prices due to tariffs continue to be dissuaded," said Nationwide's Ben Ayers, citing lower fuel costs as a moderating factor.
Labor data added to the mixed economic picture, with weekly jobless claims holding steady at 248,000, slightly above forecasts and marking the second consecutive week at the highest level since October.
"There are early warning signs in the labor market," said Navy Federal Credit Union's chief economist, Heather Long. "If layoffs worsen this summer, it will heighten fears of a recession and consumer spending pullback."
"We still think the primary driver for market direction and to break out to all-time highs would be some resolution for tariffs and how they interlink with the budget and the Fed. And we see a lot of headlines about negotiations or pauses or frameworks, but we still haven't seen a single signed trade deal between the U.S. and its trade partners," said Tom Hainlin, senior investment strategist at U.S. Bank Asset Management Group.
In corporate news, Boeing led Dow and S&P 500 decliners, dropping 4.79 percent after an Air India 787-8 crash. Suppliers GE Aerospace and Spirit AeroSystems also slid.
Technology stocks saw mixed performance. Microsoft rose 1.32 percent, while Nvidia and Broadcom each added more than 1 percent. Apple edged higher, but Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Tesla slipped. Tesla's 2.23 percent dip came after a four-day winning streak, during which it clawed back losses from last week's Musk-Trump controversy.
The day's standout performer was Oracle, which soared 13.31 percent to a record high. The company topped quarterly earnings estimates and projected strong revenue growth, driven by robust demand for cloud and AI infrastructure services.
