US stocks surged on Wednesday, after consumer inflation eased slightly last month.

The annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) came in at 3.4 per cent in April, down 0.1 percentage point from March, the Labor Department said in a statement.

The April inflation data has bolstered hopes of interest rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve later this year.

In another economic data, US retail sales were flat in April.

The unchanged reading in retail sales last month followed a slightly downwardly revised 0.6 per cent increase in March, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau said.

At 09:42 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 210.56 points, or 0.53 per cent, to 39,768.67, the S&P 500 gained 30.39 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 5,276.98 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 96.94 points, or 0.59 per cent, to 16,608.12.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 56.99 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 39,615.10. The S&P 500 was higher by 16.58 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 5,263.26, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 89.96 points, or 0.54 per cent, to 16,601.14.

The 10-year Treasury yields eased to 4.38 per cent from 4.45 per cent late on Tuesday. The 2-year yield sank to 4.76 per cent to from 4.82 per cent.

Shares of Petco Health Wellness jumped 12.3 per cent after it named Glenn Murphy, who is CEO of investment firm FIS Holdings, as its executive chairman.

Crude oil

Oil prices slipped on Wednesday as International Energy Agency (IEA) trimmed its forecast for 2024 oil demand growth.

Brent crude futures were down 54 cents or 0.6 per cent at $81.84 a barrel at 1140 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) fell 50 cents or 0.6 per cent to $77.52 a barrel. 

Bullion

Gold prices climbed to a more than three-week peak on Wednesday, aided by a weaker US dollar.

Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $2,367.29 per ounce, as of 1322 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.6 per cent to $2,372.70.

Spot silver rose 1.5 per cent to $29.03 per ounce.