Star Metro - US stocks gain after benign inflation data, oil prices retreat

The Producer Price Index in July was flat on a month-on-month basis, while it rose 4.7 percent from a year ago, down from a 5.5 percent increase in June.

The reading, which followed a benign consumer inflation reading Wednesday, bolstered expectations that Federal Reserve officials would not feel obliged to raise borrowing costs quickly.

"A September interest rate hike -- as we've been forecasting -- is now looking unlikely," said Stephen Brown, an economist at Capital Economics.

Still, market watchers are on guard about the risk of persistent inflation.

The US Treasury Department's auction Thursday for the 30-year bond drew the highest yield since 2001 at 5.216 percent.

All three major US indices finished higher, with the broad-based S&P 500 up 0.7 percent at 7,798.99, a new record.

Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management said the two reports on inflation "seem to be fine" but cautioned against reading too much into the market's current dynamics.

"This has been the slowest week of the summer in terms of overall volumes, so it's hard to put a lot of credibility in any of the moves that we've seen," Hogan said. "We're kind of grinding higher, but not with any enthusiastic volume."

Earlier, Seoul's Kospi jumped 3.6 percent thanks to chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung as investors returned to AI names.

The South Korean index had tumbled 40 percent by early August since hitting a record high in June. It has since recovered by about 20 percent.

London's stock market was hit as shares in heavyweight mining companies retreated after copper giant Antofagasta downgraded its production outlook.

Oil prices slipped after recent gains amid uncertainty over the prospects for Gulf shipments from the Strait of Hormuz, with both US President Donald Trump and Iran claiming control of the key waterway.

Among individual companies, Dow component Cisco fell 8.4 percent despite reporting better-than-expected results on growth connected to artificial intelligence.

A UBS note said the pullback in Cisco shares likely reflected concerns about a possible slowdown in profit margins but called any retreat "an attractive buying opportunity."

But Netflix jumped 5.4 percent after Bill Ackman's Pershing Square disclosed a stake in the streaming company.

- Key figures around 2020 GMT -

New York - DOW: DOWN 0.2 percent at 53,661.00 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 7,777.81

New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.5 percent at 26,717.92

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 10,772.67 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,650.56 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.1 percent at 26,299.74 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 68,308.59 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.2 percent at 25,396.51 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.5 percent at 3,926.96 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1528 from $1.1526 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3486 from $1.3495

Dollar/yen: UP at 159.52 yen from 159.42 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 85.48 pence from 85.40 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 2.2 percent at $87.07 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.4 percent at $81.25 per barrel

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X.Baker--SMC