Stocks on the New York Stock Exchange rose on Wednesday after the release of the latest producer price index (PPI) report. The benchmark S&P 500 rose more than 1%, putting it on track to its largest four-day gain of the year. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 surged 1.5% upwards while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.4%.
PPI came in at 0.1% higher than the previous month, lower than the 0.2% rise forecast by a panel of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. On an annual basis, PPI rose 2.2%. Excluding volatile food and category, PPI remained unchanged from the previous month. According to Paul Ashworth at Capital Economics, the latest PPI report is a positive sign. “It is nevertheless consistent with the Fed’s preferred core PCE prices measure increasing at a below 2% annualized pace,” Ashworth explained, suggesting that the Federal Reserve could be swayed to lower its interest rates.
Starbucks was the major winning stock of the session, skyrocketing by 20% after announcing new CEO and Chairman Brian Niccol, who arrived from Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. Niccol replaced Laxman Narasimhan, who acted in the role for a little over a year.