Wall Street ends higher as softer producer prices data boosts rate-cut bets

By Abigail Summerville

(Reuters) - U.S. indexes closed up on Tuesday and hit a near two-week high after softer producer prices data reinforced bets of an interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September.

U.S. producer prices increased less than expected in July as a rise in the cost of goods was tempered by cheaper services, indicating that inflation continued to moderate. In the 12 months through July, the PPI increased 2.2% after climbing 2.7% in June.

Investors now await all-important consumer-price figures for July on Wednesday and retail sales data on Thursday to firm bets on an aggressive rate cut by the U.S. central bank.

“The core PPI number furthers the narrative that the Fed has done an excellent job of keeping inflation relatively under control and that the more likely move is going to be a rate cut sooner rather than later,” said Michael James, managing director of equity trading at Wedbush Securities.

“You have the CPI print tomorrow morning. Any data point is going to have an outsized influence on the market because people are so jittery right now.”

Traders now see a 55% chance of a 50-basis-point rate cut by the U.S. central bank, from less than 50% before the report, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

Stocks wobbled on Monday with the S&P 500 nearly flat and the Nasdaq eking out modest gains, following a turbulent week marked by mixed economic reports and a rate hike by Japan's central bank.

The S&P 500 gained 90.04 points, or 1.68%, to end at 5,434.43 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 407.00 points, or 2.43%, to 17,187.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 408.63 points, or 1.04%, to 39,765.64.

Information technology and consumer discretionary were the top sector performers.

Energy shares dipped on lower oil prices as OPEC's move to cut its forecast for demand growth in 2024 tempered fears of supply risks posed by widening conflict in the Middle East. [O/R]

The Russell 2000 Index, focused on small companies, rose 1.6%.

Starbucks was the top performer on the S&P 500, jumping 24.5%, its biggest one-day percentage gain ever, after the coffee seller appointed Chipotle Mexican Grill's head Brian Niccol as chairman and CEO.

Chipotle shares fell 7.5%.

Home Depot reversed losses and climbed 1.2%. The home-improvement chain forecast a decline in annual profit and a bigger drop in its annual comparable sales.

BuzzFeed jumped 25.9% after the digital media company narrowed its net loss in the second quarter to $6.6 million from $22.5 million a year earlier.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.36-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.59-to-1 ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 17 new 52-week highs and three new lows while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 55 new highs and 128 new lows.

(Reporting by Abigail Summerville in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel)