US stocks extend rally as a drop in wholesale prices boosts optimism that inflation is cooling

• US stocks continued to rally as wholesale price data gave traders fresh confidence that inflation could finally be easing.
• The producer price index fell 0.5% from June to July, the first month-over-month decrease since April 2020.

US stocks continued to rally Thursday as wholesale price data gave traders fresh confidence that inflation could finally be easing.

The producer price index fell 0.5% from June to July, the first month-over-month decrease since April 2020. The largest decline came in energy prices, which fell 9% at the wholesale level. Overall, the index grew at a 9.8% clip year-over-year.

The encouraging wholesale data followed a better-than-expected consumer price index report Wednesday, which sent stocks higher on hopes the Federal Reserve will ease rate hikes.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 4,231.80, up 0.51%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,485.69, up 0.53% (176.18 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 12,920.09, up 0.51%

"I believe that the market is going to have a big surge after the last Fed rate hike on September 21st," Louis Navellier, chairman and founder of Navellier & Associates, said in a note to Insider. "Then we will benefit from the quarter-end window dressing."

But Fed officials said more rate hikes were needed to truly tame inflation, throwing cold water on the Street's hope that the central bank could pause tightening early next year.

Ether soared as much as 11% Thursday, as the Ethereum network advanced toward its planned transition to a proof-of-stake system. The second-largest crypto currency by market capitalization has surged nearly 80% over the past month.

Elsewhere, Russia is producing more oil than expected as shipments are being re-routed to Asia, according to a report from the International Energy Agency.

And India is finding new ways to circumvent sanctions to buy Russian coal by using currencies other than the US dollar. Russia is now India's third-largest supplier of coal.

Oil prices rallied as the IEA raised its demand forecast. West Texas Intermediate crude was 1.51% higher at $93.26 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed 1.62% to $98.97.

Gold was climbed 0.07% to $1,793.30. The 10-year Treasury yield fell 1.1 basis points to 2.77%.

Bitcoin gained 0.21% to $24,653.95