U.S. stocks open higher after June producer price index rises less than expected

U.S. stock indexes opened higher on Thursday after the June producer price index moderated more than analysts’ expectations, extending a string of weak readings that suggest inflation is calming in the U.S. and bolstering the chances that the Federal Reserve is near the end of its campaign of interest-rate hikes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.20%
rose 121 points, or 0.4%, to 34,466, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.57%
gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+1.01%
advanced 0.8%. The producer price index (PPI) rose 0.1% in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expected an increase of 0.2%. Core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, climbed 0.1%, in line with expectations. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell by 12,000 to 237,000, indicating that the U.S. labor market still remains tight even as job growth is slowing.