NEW YORK, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Thursday as oil prices declined and investors digested a softer-than-expected reading on wholesale inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.72 points, or 0.13 percent, to 53,839.99. The S&P 500 added 50.49 points, or 0.65 percent, to 7,798.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 214.54 points, or 0.81 percent, to 26,803.03.
Seven of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in the green, with communication services and real estate leading the gainers by rising 1.56 percent and 1.34 percent, respectively. Materials and energy led the laggards by falling 0.73 percent and 0.09 percent, respectively.
The U.S. July producer price index (PPI), which measures what wholesalers pay for goods and materials, was unchanged from the previous month, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday.
Economists had expected a 0.2 percent of month-on-month increase. The core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent, slightly below the anticipated gain of 0.3 percent from the previous month.
The milder-than-expected PPI report followed Wednesday's in-line consumer price index reading.
Oil prices declined on Thursday. The West Texas Intermediate for September delivery decreased by 2.02 U.S. dollars, or 2.43 percent, to settle at 81.25 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery lost 1.91 dollars, or 2.15 percent, to settle at 87.07 dollars a barrel on the London ICE Futures Exchange.
"We recognise that the Fed has missed its inflation target for the past five years," wrote ING bank. "Nonetheless, progress does appear to be being made and consumer inflation expectations are within tolerable ranges, suggesting little risk of second-round price effects from the energy spike."
In corporate news, Cisco Systems was among the notable decliners, with shares falling 8.4 percent after its latest quarterly results. The company's outlook for adjusted gross margin in the first quarter of 65 percent to 66 percent narrowly missed the FactSet consensus estimate of 66.1 percent.
Cerebras Systems plunged nearly 12 percent and Coherent dropped nearly 8 percent following their respective earnings updates.
Netflix rose more than 5 percent after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management disclosed a new stake in the streaming company. Pershing Square had previously held a position in Netflix in early 2022 before selling it about three months later.
Super Micro Computer continued its post-earnings rally, gaining more than 4 percent after a 19 percent advance on Wednesday.
