Stocks rise as retail sales data show resilient consumer

© Reuters.

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks were rising after stronger than expected retail sales pointed to a resilient economy even as inflation data came in hotter than expected.

At 11:00 ET (15:00 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 244 points or 0.7% while the S&P 500 was up 0.6% and the NASDAQ Composite rose 0.7%.

The three major Wall Street indices lost their earlier momentum on Wednesday, as investors tried to digest the August consumer prices report.

More inflation data to digest 

The data showed that U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in 14 months in August as the cost of gasoline rose, but the annual rise in underlying inflation was the smallest in nearly two years.

The U.S. central bank is still widely projected to keep borrowing costs at a range of 5.25% to 5.50% at its upcoming meeting later this month, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool. 

But the rise in the headline rate contradicted earlier inflation readings which had come in cooler than expected, creating uncertainty over whether Fed officials will opt to raise rates once more in either November or December.

More inflation data came out today. The producer price index for August rose 1.6% on an annualized basis, beating expectations for 1.2%, and it rose 0.7% from July versus expectations for a gain of 0.4%.

Additionally, retail sales rose 0.6%, versus estimates for 0.2% from the prior month, while the weekly number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits was 220,000 last week, lower than expectations.

Arm to start trading after IPO

Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) will be in the spotlight Thursday, as the British chip designer starts trading having priced its initial public offering at $51 apiece, touching the top end of its indicated range and securing a valuation of $54.5 billion.

The listing -- the largest since electric-truck maker Rivian Automotive 's (NASDAQ:RIVN) around $12 billion debut in 2021 -- was fueled by strong demand that saw the stock more than 12 times oversubscribed.

In terms of quarterly earnings, both home builder Lennar (NYSE:LEN) and computer software company Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE) are scheduled to post results after the market close Thursday.

AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) shares rose 2.7% after the movie theater operator completed the sale of 40 million shares, raising $325 million.

Crude gains with the market seen remaining tight

Oil prices rose Thursday as supplies are set to stay tight this year, while confidence about the demand outlook remains strong even as U.S. crude stockpiles rise.

The International Energy Agency largely stuck by its estimates for demand growth this year and next in its monthly report, released Wednesday, joining the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in expecting oil markets to tighten further this year. 

This helped traders look past U.S. oil inventories rising by four million barrels last week, confounding expectations for a drop of around 2 million barrels.

(Peter Nurse and Oliver Gray contributed to this item.)