02:16 PM EDT, 05/15/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday as Wall Street parsed latest economic data and remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The S&P 500 was up 0.5% at 5,920.7 after midday Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 42,226.1. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3% to 19,196.2. Among sectors, consumer staples and utilities paced the gainers, while consumer discretionary and energy were in the red.

In economic news, retail sales in the US barely grew in April as consumers pulled back on spending at gasoline stations and car dealerships, government data showed.

"There have been no significant signs of price pressures stemming from tariffs so far," TD Economics said. "The (US') temporary truce with China and the reduction in reciprocal tariffs should further ease pricing pressures in the near term."

US producer prices unexpectedly declined last month as wholesale costs of services fell at the fastest pace on record, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.

Earlier in the week, the BLS reported a sequential rebound in consumer prices for April, though the increase was smaller than Wall Street's estimates. Annual inflation eased to the lowest level since February 2021.

Weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US held steady, while continuing claims increased, according to the latest government data released Thursday.

"The bottom line is that we do not see any evidence in this data that businesses are getting more aggressive in laying people off," Jefferies said.

US Treasury yields were lower intraday, with the 10-year rate falling 8.7 basis points to 4.44% and the two-year rate losing 8.6 basis points to 3.97%.

Powell said that inflation could be more volatile in the future than in the inter-crisis period of the 2010s as the economic backdrop has changed "significantly" since 2020.

"Longer-term interest rates are a good deal higher now, driven largely by real rates given the stability of longer-term inflation expectations," Powell said. "Higher real rates may also reflect the possibility that inflation could be more volatile going forward than in the inter-crisis period of the 2010s. We may be entering a period of more frequent, and potentially more persistent, supply shocks -- a difficult challenge for the economy and for central banks."

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 2.5% at $61.55 a barrel intraday. "Oil prices tumbled on a potential US-Iran nuclear deal," D.A. Davidson said in a client note.

In company news, Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) shares were up 5.8%, the top gainer on the Dow and among the best on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The networking equipment maker's fiscal third-quarter results surpassed the Street's estimates late Wednesday as demand for its products grew.

Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) agreed to acquire Foot Locker ( FL ) Thursday for an equity value of roughly $2.4 billion. Foot Locker ( FL ) shares surged nearly 85%, while Dick's Sporting tumbled 16%.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) shares sank 14%, the worst performer on the Dow and the S&P 500. The health insurance giant is facing a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice over possible Medicare fraud tied to its Medicare Advantage operations, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

UnitedHealth ( UNH ) said it has not received any notification from the DOJ and described the WSJ report, without official attribution, as "deeply irresponsible."

Gold was up 1.3% at $3,228.10 per troy ounce, while silver rose 0.7% to $32.67 per ounce.