U.S. share benchmarks and oil prices gained after fresh inflation data piqued investors’ hopes that price rises may be nearing a peak.
The S&P 500 advanced 0.5% Friday morning. The index retreated Thursday but was on track for its strongest week of gains since February. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.2%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.3%.
Inflation hit an almost four-decade high in November. Labor Department figures showed that the consumer-price index—which measures what people pay for goods and services—rose 6.8% in November from a year ago. Price pressures have been driven by strong demand and supply-chain woes related to the pandemic, as well as higher energy prices.
“There’s a bit of a relief in the market at the moment. It’s in line with market expectations and in addition there’s an expectation this is the peak of year-on-year inflation numbers,” said
Edward Park,
chief investment officer at investment firm Brooks Macdonald.
The Federal Reserve will hold a meeting next week at which it may provide more details about how it plans to wind down its bond-buying program and when it plans to begin raising interest rates. Investors are waiting to see whether officials signal a faster end to stimulus and how they characterize inflation.
In bond markets on Friday, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note—which rises when prices fall—ticked down to 1.474%, from 1.486% Thursday. Brent crude futures, the benchmark in global oil markets, rose 0.9% to $75.05 a barrel, and were recently up more than 8% for the month.
In individual stocks,
shares gained 16% after the database giant reported second-quarter results that beat estimates.
shares added more than 9% after the company posted better-than-expected results and strong January-quarter guidance, raised its dividend and announced a stock-repurchase program.
shares shed 6% after the online pet products retailer posted disappointing results, reflecting higher-than-expected supply chain and labor costs.
Stocks have swung back and forth in recent weeks.
Photo:
BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS
Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 was roughly flat. Major indexes in Asia closed lower. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.1%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1%. South Korea’s Kospi shed 0.6% and China’s Shanghai Composite edged down 0.2%.
China Fortune Land Development’s
shares rose 10% in Shanghai trading after the indebted property developer said creditors had approved a debt restructuring plan, potentially throwing it a lifeline. Concerns over China’s real-estate sector have weighed on markets this year, and this week, Fitch Ratings said
and a second big property developer,
had defaulted after missing U.S. dollar bond payments.
Write to Caitlin Ostroff at caitlin.ostroff@wsj.com
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