Wall Street opens mostly higher as tech widens lead

US stock indices opened the fourth session of the week mostly higher, with the tech sector, led by the trio Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, buoying NASDAQ and S&P 500 to near record highs 

US Labor, Inflation Data 

Earlier US data showed producer prices were unchanged in July, compared to a 0.3% increase in June, and missing estimates of 0.2%. 

Core prices, excluding food and energy, rose 0.1%, while those excluding trade services as well rose 0.3%, indicating solid momentum in the economy. 

US unemployment claims fell surprisingly by 6 thousand to 213 thousand from 219K, beating expectations of an increase to 220K.

Continuing claims for the week ending July 28 rose 29 thousand to 1.755 million from 1.726 million, missing expectations of 1.730 million. 

The final reading for business inventories rose 0.1% in June, compared to no-change in in the preliminary reading, and improving from a 0.6% surge in May.

Accumulated inventories indicate poor demand and are considered a negative sign for the economy. 

Stock Performance 

As of 02:!6 GMT, Standard and Poor's 500 rose 0.08%, or 2.30 points to 2,860, while Dow Jones barely inched up 0.02%, or 5.94 points to 25,589.69. 

Tech-heavy NASDAQ led the pack higher with a 0.30% profit, or 23.73 points to 7,912.06.