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Inflation Report Gives Stocks a Boost
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Thursday, February 23, 2006
NEW YORK, Feb. 22 -- A combination of moderate inflation and falling oil prices energized Wall Street on Wednesday, sending stocks higher as investors grew optimistic about an end to the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 68.11, or 0.62 percent, to 11,137.17.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 9.63, or 0.75 percent, to 1292.67, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 20.21, or 0.89 percent, to 2283.17.
The core rate of inflation, which excludes energy and food, rose by a tame 0.2 percent in January.
Higher prices for gasoline and electricity sent the broader consumer price index up 0.7 percent last month, the largest rise in prices in four months.
Investors were also heartened by a drop in crude oil futures, which sagged despite recent attacks on oil pipelines and oil workers by militants in Nigeria.
The market has been swinging in recent weeks with each new scrap of data that might influence the Fed as it considers future interest rate hikes.
Many analysts expect the choppy trading to continue.
Movers
Altria Group rose $1.18, to $73.38, after the company backed its 2006 profit outlook Tuesday.
Boeing gained $1.34, to $74.39, after it landed the first big deal at Asia's biggest air show.
Pfizer rose 55 cents, to $26.19, after the Food and Drug Administration approved its treatment for a common blood infection.
Sprint Nextel fell $1.13, to $23.80, after the wireless phone company reported a 55 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit on heavy expenses.
