Stocks continued to rise in early trade on Wall Street Thursday after another report by the Labor Department showed consumer prices dropped in July.

The S&P 500 was 38.79 points or 0.92% higher at 4,249.03 following a report showing wholesale inflation dropped more than economists anticipated in July. It raised hopes that inflation may be close to a peak and that the Federal Reserve might ease off its aggressive stance on interest rate hikes.

Also Read | Gaming industry to see spending slowdown amidst slowing pandemic growth

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 295 points or 0.9% higher at 33,603 as of 10:13 am Eastern time. The Nasdaq Composite was 132.23 or 1.03% higher at 12,987.04.

Traders continued to reduce their bets on how big the Fed’s next rate hike will be, causing Treasury yields to fall. Cryptocurrencies also witnessed gains on Wednesday, when relief flowed through markets after a report showed CPI inflation declined to 8.5% against market expectation of 8.7%.

Also Read | How the Inflation Reduction Act would help boost climate control in US

About 90% of the stocks in the index rose on Thursday following an encouraging signal of inflation. The Walt Disney Co. surged 7.9% for the biggest rally in the index after the entertainment company reported better-than-expected profits for the previous quarter. Other media companies also rallied, with Paramount Global rising 5.9% and Warner Bros. Discovery up 5.7%.

Also Read | New social media platform: Elon Musk reveals mysterious x.com

Energy stocks as a group on the S&P 500 jumped 1.6%. Financial companies also witnessed solid gains. Concerns about a looming recession are still hovering over the market, as the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates to fight inflation.

Also Read | Researcher uses $25 hacking tool to access Starlink network

A strong jobs market has offered a strong counterweight, leading to a dampened outlook for the economy. According to a report released on Thursday, fewer US workers filed for unemployment claims last week than expected, a possibly encouraging sign about layoffs. But it was nevertheless the highest number since November.

Also Read | Elon Musk accuses Twitter of hiding witnesses from his lawyers

In markets abroad, European markets were mixed, while Asian markets ended mostly higher. In Thailand, the SET fell 0.2% after the country’s central bank increased its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 0.75%. The Southeast Asian country has been severely impacted by the pandemic, which shattered its most-significant tourism sector.