US markets end higher amid cooler consumer inflation data

19 Dec 2025 Evaluate

The US markets ended higher on Thursday supported by cooler consumer inflation data. The report released by Labor Department showed an unexpected slowdown in the annual rate of consumer price growth. It said consumer prices in November were up by 2.7 percent compared to the same month a year ago. The year-over-year price growth in November reflects a notable slowdown from the 3.0 percent surge in September. Meanwhile, street had expected the annual rate of growth to tick up to 3.1 percent. Besides, Labor Department has released a separate report which showed that the first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits for the week ended December 13 were in line with street estimates. It said initial jobless claims fell to 224,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 237,000. Meanwhile, street had expected jobless claims to slip to 225,000 from the 236,000 originally reported for the previous week.

On the sectoral front, semiconductor stocks gained significant momentum during the session, resulting in a 2.5 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. Micron Technology (MU) helped lead the sector higher, spiking by 10.2 percent after reporting better than expected quarterly results and providing blowout guidance. Further, software and networking stocks saw considerable strength on the day, contributing to the jump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 65.88 points or 0.14 percent to 47,951.85, Nasdaq jumped 313.04 points or 1.38 percent to 23,006.36 and S&P 500 advanced 53.33 points or 0.79 percent to 6,774.76.

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