U.S. stocks rise as inflation pressures persist; Dell drops 6.8%

U.S. stocks rose Thursday despite persistent inflation pressures, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining 1.08% to close at 52,178.99 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also advanced, while Dell fell 6.8% as investors rotated away from AI trades into other value sectors. The Labor Department reported September producer prices rose 1.3% month-over-month and 6.3% year-over-year, both exceeding expectations, driven by higher energy costs. Retail sales grew 0.8% in September, but gains were concentrated in gas stations, masking weakness elsewhere. Cleveland Fed President Hammack warned that deteriorating inflation expectations could force more aggressive Fed action. In other markets, Bitcoin rose above $82,000, gold traded at $4,170.26 per ounce, and WTI crude jumped 3.03% to $97.97 per barrel. Meta launched an open-weight AI model while keeping its strongest technology proprietary, and Google announced a quantum computing breakthrough with its Willow chip reducing error rates by about 40 times.