Homebuilders Get a Boost From Latest Inflation Figures

The US stock market rose to a record on Thursday following the latest sign that inflation is getting less bad. Stocks also got a lift from easing oil prices in their latest yo-yo move.

• The S&P 500 rose 50.49 points, or 0.7%, to 7,798.99, topping its prior record set last week.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.72 points, or 0.1%, to 53,839.99.
• The Nasdaq composite rose 214.54 points, or 0.8%, to 26,803.03.

Wall Street relaxed after a report showed prices at the US wholesale level were 4.7% higher last month than a year earlier. While that's still very high, it's not as bad as June's 5.5% inflation rate at the wholesale level, and it was slightly better than economists expected, the AP reports. If inflation continues to trend that way, the Federal Reserve could decide to hold off on hikes to interest rates.

On Wall Street, stocks in the real-estate industry helped lead the way. When interest rates are lower and bonds are paying less in yield, the dividends that many real-estate investment trusts pay look more attractive. Lower mortgage rates could also drive more activity in the housing market. The average long-term US mortgage rate fell this week for the first time in six week. AvalonBay Communities, which owns apartments across the country, rose 2.3%. Homebuilder DR Horton added 2.8%. Fossil Group climbed 5.9% after the seller of watches and jewelry became one of the latest companies to report better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

They helped offset a drop for Cisco Systems, which fell 8.4% even though the tech giant reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than Wall Street expected. Analysts said investors may be worried about its profit margins going forward, and its stock has been shaky through the summer amid worries that AI-related stocks in general have shot too high. Oil prices eased back on Thursday, helping to limit worries about inflation. The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil fell 1.4% to $87.71. It's been swinging sharply recently and pinballed between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that a deal in the war could allow oil tankers to freely exit the Middle East again and deliver crude worldwide.