Afternoon rally follows benign economic data

A late afternoon rally propelled stocks higher on Wall Street after news of a mild increase in consumer prices suggested that…

A late afternoon rally propelled stocks higher on Wall Street after news of a mild increase in consumer prices suggested that the US Federal Reserve may raise interest rates only modestly when it meets this month.

At the close of trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 70.29 - or by 0.6 per cent - at 11,117.08.

Earlier in the session, the blue-chip index had fallen as much as 35.14 points from Monday's close, but traders blamed Hewlett-Packard for most of the decline. The computer maker fell as investors took profits following a solid earnings report.

Broader stock indicators ended higher after trading in a narrow range for most of the day.

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The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 13.39 to 1,344.16, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 25.96 to 2,671.24.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by an eight-to-five margin on the New York Stock Exchange, with 1,844 up, 1,147 down and 542 unchanged.

NYSE volume totalled 689.88 million shares, against 576.97 million in the previous session.