United States stocks finished higher on Thursday (Friday AEST), with the S&P 500 reaching a fresh record high as gains in major technology stocks and softer-than-expected producer price data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged at its September meeting.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 69.7 points, or 0.1%, to 53,840.0. The S&P 500 gained 50.5 points, or 0.7%, to 7,799.0, setting a new record closing high, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 214.5 points, or 0.8%, to 26,803.0.
Memory chipmakers led the technology sector higher, with Sandisk surging 13.7% and Micron Technology climbing 4.2%. Microsoft gained 0.9%, while Meta Platforms added 2.8%.
Strong forecasts from companies including Microsoft and Amazon in recent weeks have helped ease investor concerns over the scale of spending on artificial intelligence data centres.
Cisco Systems fell 8.4%, however, after the networking equipment maker's upbeat revenue forecast failed to meet elevated investor expectations.
Geopolitical tensions also remained in focus, with Iran and the United States still at odds over efforts to reach a permanent end to the Iran war. Traffic through the strategically important Strait of Hormuz remained severely restricted.
Among data releases, U.S. producer prices were unchanged in July, as falling goods prices offset a marginal increase in services costs.
Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims rose moderately, suggesting the labour market remains broadly stable.
Markets are pricing in a 65.2% chance that the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates unchanged at its September meeting, according to CME Group FedWatch Tool.
On the bond markets, 10-year and two-year Treasury yields fell 0.8% and 1.2%, respectively, to 4.649% and 4.149%.
