US and European stocks rise while oil prices diverge
US and European stock indices rose on Thursday even though US producer prices in September were up 6.3% year on year. Crude oil gained 3% in New York but slipped 0.1% in London.
US and European stock indices ended Thursday's trading higher, even though the latest US producer price data points to elevated inflation. Producer prices in the United States rose 6.3% in September compared with the same month a year earlier, the fastest increase since December 2022. In August the annual figure was 5.6%.
What supported equities
Analysts said shares were helped by a decline in US Treasury bond yields. Tom Kayhill of the investment firm Ventura Wealth Management said this suggests investors see a good opportunity to take some money out of equities and balance it with fixed income.
Technology investors were also encouraged by comments from Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, who expressed optimism about the prospects of data center operator CoreWeave. CoreWeave shares fell more than 15% on Wednesday and rose 6% on Thursday.
Indices
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.1% to 52,177.69 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.3% to 7,744.06, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1% to 26,713.03.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 climbed 1.1% to 10,840.35 points, Paris's CAC 40 rose 0.8% to 7,934.70, and Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.3% to 25,382.62.
Oil, gas and currencies
On the New York exchange, WTI crude rose 3.0% to $97.97 a barrel after a significant drop in US commercial reserves. In London, Brent crude fell 0.1% to $105.92 a barrel.
On the Dutch Title Transfer Facility, natural gas fell 0.8% to 86.43 euros per megawatt-hour.
The US dollar weakened against other major currencies. The euro rose from 1.1157 to 1.1213 dollars, the British pound from 1.3193 to 1.3274 dollars. The dollar slipped against the Japanese yen from 158.33 to 158.12, while the euro fell against the pound from 84.56 to 84.47 pence.
