U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday, with the S&P 500 up 0.57% and the Nasdaq 100 up 1.22%, after a weaker-than-expected producer price report eased inflation concerns and lowered the odds of a Federal Reserve rate hike. The July final-demand PPI was unchanged month-over-month versus expectations of a 0.2% increase, and the core PPI rose 0.2% versus a 0.3% forecast, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield down 7.2 basis points to 4.621%. Tech shares were mixed, with Cisco Systems down more than 8% on disappointing guidance and Cerebras Systems down more than 13% after delivering disappointing guidance of $215 million in Q3, while chip stocks broadly gained with the iShares Semiconductor ETF up 2.2%. Crude oil fell more than 1% amid no new military strikes in the Persian Gulf, and markets now price a 35% chance of a quarter-point Fed rate hike at the September meeting, down from 40% on Wednesday.
