Wall Street today: US stocks surge after July inflation data, Nasdaq up 1%

US stock indices surged on Friday after key inflation data for July bolstered expectations for interest rates cut by the Federal Reserve next month.

As of 9:53 am Eastern, the S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1 per cent.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 31.11 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 41,366.16. The S&P 500 edged higher by 20.78 points, or 0.37 per cent, at 5,612.74, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 134.06 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 17,650.49.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, ticked up on a monthly basis from 0.1 per cent in June to 0.2 per cent in July.

The index was steady at 2.5 per cent on an annual basis.

The US central bank is widely expected to start reducing interest rates from a decades-high level at its next monetary policy meeting in September.

Marvell Technology stock jumped 7.8 per cent after the chipmaker posted stronger quarterly results.

Stocks of Broadcom rose 3.3 per cent and Nvidia added 2.2 per cent.

Dell shares rose 2.9 per cent after the company beat analysts’ forecasts for the second quarter earnings. It reported record server and networking revenue as companies continue to beef up their artificial intelligence infrastructure.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.88 per cent from 3.86 per cent late on Thursday.

Bullion

Gold prices were steady on Friday amid geopolitical uncertainty.

Spot gold was steady at $2,520.36 per ounce, as of 1132 GMT. US gold futures edged 0.3 per cent lower to $2,552.90.

Spot silver rose 0.2 per cent to $29.51 per ounce.

Crude oil

Oil prices rose for a second day on Friday on positive US economic data and worsening supply disruptions in Libya.

Brent for October traded around $80 a barrel after climbing 1.6 per cent in the previous session, while West Texas Intermediate was below $76.