Wall Street’s major indices closed higher on Thursday, 15 October, in an uneven recovery session. The Dow Jones led gains with a rise of 1.08%, while the Nasdaq advanced just 0.08%, constrained by sustained pressure on artificial intelligence and semiconductor companies.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session at 52,177.69 points, up 556.21 points from the previous close. The S&P 500 gained 0.33% to reach 7,744.06 points, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 26,713.03 points, adding 20.16 points on the day.

Approximately seven in ten S&P 500 stocks closed higher. Healthcare was among the best-performing sectors, while technology remained under pressure despite recovering a portion of its earlier losses over the course of the session.

Nvidia, AMD, and Micron were among the stocks that weighed on the index. Investors continued to assess the growth outlook for AI companies and the risks associated with the financing needs of data centre operators, including CoreWeave.

On the macroeconomic front, the United States Producer Price Index (PPI) recorded an annual increase of 6.3% in September, above the 5.4% expected by analysts and the highest reading since December 2022.

Compared with August, prices rose 1.3%, the largest monthly increase since March 2022. Excluding food, energy, and trade services, the index advanced 0.5% on the month and 5.0% year-on-year, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Despite the inflation surprise, investors scaled back expectations of another Federal Reserve interest rate increase in October over the course of the session. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note retreated to around 5.1%, in a move reflecting demand for government debt alongside concerns over technology sector valuations.

In oil markets, the two main benchmarks finished in opposite directions. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for November delivery rose 3.03% to $97.97 per barrel, supported by a larger-than-expected draw in US crude inventories. Brent crude for December delivery slipped 0.13% to $105.92 per barrel.

Tensions in the Middle East continued to fuel fears of supply disruptions. During the same session, Ukraine resumed strikes on Russian refineries after President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Kyiv was abandoning the truce on energy infrastructure that had been declared by Donald Trump.