US stocks climb as fresh signs point to cooling inflation and a softer labor market

• US stocks climbed Thursday as investors took in new economic data that pointed to cooling inflation.
• Thursday data showed the March producer price index declined 0.5% month-over-month, more than expected.
• Weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected, at 239,000.

US stocks ticked higher Thursday following more economic data that pointed to cooling inflation and a softer labor market.

On Thursday, the March producer price index declined by 0.5% month-over-month, while economists had expected the measure to remain flat. That followed Wednesday's lower-than-expected reading on consumer prices.

Weekly jobless claims, meanwhile, came in at 239,00 for the week that ended April 8, above views for 235,000.

"Inflation's downward trend makes life easier for the Fed — however speculation that the central bank could cut rate towards the end of the year should be tempered by the Fed's own communication to the contrary," wrote Giuseppe Sette, president of Toggle, in a note. "Traders would do well to remember that rates historically are always higher than inflation except during a recession."

Here's where US indexes stood as the market opened 9:30 a.m. on Thursday:

• S&P 500: 4,104.42, up 0.30%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,703.48, up 0.17% (56.98 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 12,010.14, up 0.68%

Here's what else is going on:

• Nobel laureate Paul Krugman said the Fed doesn't realize it already beat inflation.
• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is betting big on AI, and touted the tech as a "big deal" for shareholders.
• Ethereum's highly-anticipated network update is here.
• The Fed's own economists are predicting a mild recession this year.
• Goldman Sachs dropped its call for a Fed interest-rate hike in June.
• Elon Musk sees a hard slog for the US economy over the next year.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices slipped, with West Texas Intermediate down 0.14% to $83.04 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, inched 0.30% lower to $87.07 a barrel.
• Gold rose 1.64% to $2,0580.00 per ounce.
• The 10-year yield ticked up three basis points to 3.391%.
• Bitcoin climbed 1.36% to $30,280.01.