US stocks opened higher on Thursday evening Beijing time as August consumer price index data aligned with forecasts. The CPI rose 2.9% year-over-year, meeting expectations, while the monthly increase of 0.4% exceeded estimates. The European Central Bank maintained interest rates unchanged.

The Dow Jones gained 128.62 points, or 0.28%, to 45,619.54 points; the Nasdaq advanced 98.95 points, or 0.45%, to 21,985.01 points; the S&P 500 rose 23.36 points, or 0.36%, to 6,555.40 points.

US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday. Driven by Oracle's surge, the S&P 500 reached a record closing high for the second consecutive day. The Nasdaq Composite posted modest gains, while the Dow fell over 200 points.

Investors expressed optimism about Oracle's cloud business growth prospects. The company's shares soared approximately 36% yesterday, marking the best single-day performance since 1992, adding $244 billion to its market capitalization.

Traders viewed this as a positive signal for the artificial intelligence sector overall. AI-related stocks including Broadcom, Advanced Micro Devices, and Micron Technology rallied in tandem, providing highlights for investors during an otherwise subdued trading session.

On Thursday morning, the US Labor Department reported that the August Consumer Price Index rose 2.9% year-over-year, meeting expectations. The monthly CPI increase of 0.4% exceeded the Dow Jones consensus estimate of 0.3%.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had anticipated a 0.3% monthly increase and a 2.9% annual rise. Excluding volatile food and energy components, core CPI was expected to rise 0.3% monthly and 3.1% annually.

Following the CPI data release, the 10-year US Treasury yield fell below 4% for the first time since April.

Wednesday's US August Producer Price Index unexpectedly declined 0.1% monthly, with a 12-month cumulative increase of 2.6%. This data reinforced investor expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut rates in September.

Economic Data

Consumer prices for various goods and services rose more than expected in August, while unemployment benefit claims accelerated, providing challenging economic signals ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting next week.

The seasonally adjusted August CPI rose 0.4% monthly, doubling from the previous month's 0.2% increase, maintaining the annualized inflation rate at 2.9%. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had forecast 0.3% monthly and 2.9% annually.

Excluding food and energy prices, the key August core CPI index rose 0.3% monthly with a 12-month cumulative increase of 3.1%, both meeting expectations. Federal Reserve officials consider the core measure more effective for gauging long-term trends.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed August real average weekly earnings increased 0.4% year-over-year. Real average weekly earnings declined 0.1% monthly; real average hourly earnings rose 0.7% year-over-year; real average hourly earnings fell 0.1% monthly. Real average weekly earnings increased $1.67 from the same period last year to $386.35.

Regarding employment, the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims unexpectedly rose to a seasonally adjusted 263,000 last week, above the expected 235,000 and up 27,000 from the previous week.

The forecast range among 43 surveyed economists was 225,000 to 247,000.

The four-week moving average of initial jobless claims was 240,500.

For the week ending August 30, continuing jobless claims remained flat at 1.939 million.

Individual Stock Focus

Adobe announced the launch of its first AI agent suite. The company will report earnings after Thursday's market close.

Bank of America downgraded United Parcel Service.

NetEase rose over 1% in pre-market trading, with shares hitting a record high during yesterday's session as the mobile game "Destiny" topped US iOS game download charts for consecutive days.

Alibaba's "Gaode Street Food Rankings" attracted over 40 million users on its launch day, becoming China's largest food ranking platform.

Citi raised Kingsoft Cloud's target price to $20.

NIO secured another $1 billion in funding.

XPeng's "land aircraft carrier" flying vehicle X3-F received special flight certification in the UAE.

Trip.com reached a strategic partnership with Cityline to expand ticketing services in Hong Kong and Macau markets.