05:00 PM EDT, 05/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes closed mixed on Wednesday, as communication services and technology led sectors amid the fastest annual pace of growth in producer prices in four years, signaling the strength of the so-called AI trade.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 49,693.20. The Nasdaq jumped 1.2% to 26,402.34, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 7,444.25.

In a broadly positive tape, communication services, technology, and consumer discretionary were among the top gainers. Utilities, financials, real estate, and industrials declined.

Of the top 10 companies with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion, implying a significant sway over indexes, seven were from technology and communication services, according to data compiled by Finviz. Nasdaq's leaders included Marvell Technology ( MRVL ) , Arm (ARM), and Micron Technology ( MU ) . In the S&P 500, ON Semiconductor (ON) and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) were among the biggest outperformers. Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Cisco ( CSCO ) were in the top five gainers on the Dow.

In economic news, the Producer Price Index soared 1.4% month-over-month in April from a 0.7% gain in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The print beat the 0.5% increase expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey. After excluding food and energy prices, core PPI surged 1.0% from 0.2%, above the 0.3% advance anticipated.

Year-over-year, PPI soared 6.0% in April while core PPI catapulted 5.2%, both above their respective March rates and the strongest readings since December 2022.

A hotter-than-expected PPI, coupled with Tuesday's larger-than-expected rise in the consumer price index, underscores not only the price impact already realized but the "additional inflationary pressures still coming down the pipeline," according to a Stifel note.

With energy cost passthrough likely to keep year-over-year core personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, inflation closer to 3% than 2% all year, Goldman Sachs said in a note that lower monthly inflation prints after the oil shock fades and further labor market softening will likely be needed for Fed rate cuts this year.

"We now expect it to take a bit longer to meet that bar," the investment bank said while pushing back the final two rate cuts in its forecast to December 2026 and March 2027.

US Treasury yields were mostly down, with the 10-year steady to slightly lower at 4.47%.The two-year slipped 1.5 basis points to 3.98%.

Meanwhile, in its closely watched Oil Market Report, the International Energy Agency said the loss of Persian Gulf supply is depleting global inventories at a record pace. Inventories fell by 129 million barrels per day in March and by 117 million bpd in April, though rising output from producers outside of the Gulf is helping to ease the supply shock.

"With Hormuz tanker traffic still restricted, cumulative supply losses from Gulf producers already exceed 1 billion barrels with more than 14 mb/d of oil now shut in, an unprecedented supply shock," the agency said.

Nevertheless, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 0.9% to $101.29, and Brent crude futures declined 1.8% to $105.81.

In precious metals, gold futures rose 0.3% to $4,696.2, and silver futures jumped 3.1% to $88.27.