(Updates with afternoon trading)

* Dell, HP gain after robust earnings from Lenovo ( LNVGF )

* July producer inflation data softer than expected

* S&P 500 +0.56%, Nasdaq +0.73%, Dow -0.01%

By Noel Randewich and Avinash P

Aug 13 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 climbed to a record high on

Thursday, fueled by advances in Sandisk ( SNDK ) and other heavyweight

technology stocks, as tame producer price inflation data

supported expectations the Federal Reserve will not raise

interest rates at its September meeting.

Memory chip makers Sandisk ( SNDK ) and Micron Technology ( MU )

surged 16% and 6.7%, respectively. Broadcom ( AVGO )

added 1.3% and Meta Platforms ( META ) rose 2.8%.

Strong forecasts in recent weeks from companies including

Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) have reduced investors'

concerns about massive spending on AI data centers.

Shares of AI cloud company CoreWeave ( CRWV ) were flat on

Thursday. CoreWeave ( CRWV ) surged 19% a day earlier after lifting its

annual capital spending forecast.

"The AI earnings-driven tech boom continues," said Jay

Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Advisors in New York.

"It's an earnings boom, not a bubble."

The S&P 500 was up 0.56% at 7,791.70 points, off an earlier

all-time high of 7,816.70.

The Nasdaq gained 0.73% to 26,782.15 points, while the Dow

Jones Industrial Average was down 0.01% at 53,766.27 points.

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by real

estate, up 1.18%, followed by a 1.13% gain in

communication services.

The S&P 500 is up almost 14% in 2026, while the Nasdaq has

gained 15%.

Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) dropped 9% after the networking

equipment maker's upbeat revenue forecast failed to satisfy

investors with high expectations.

Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to

agree on a permanent end to the Iran war, according to a senior

Iranian source, while traffic through the vital Strait of Hormuz

remained severely curtailed.

Fresh data showed U.S. producer prices were unchanged in July as

goods prices fell and the cost of services increased marginally,

while the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment

benefits increased moderately last week, pointing to a stable

jobs market.

Traders are pricing in a 63% chance that the Fed will keep

interest rates unchanged at its meeting next month, according to

CME's FedWatch tool.

Brent crude oil futures were down 1.5% at $87.66 a

barrel.

Netflix ( NFLX ) added 3.7% after billionaire investor Bill

Ackman unveiled a new holding in the streaming company as part

of Pershing Square's biggest portfolio overhaul in years.

Tapestry shares plunged 16% after the Coach owner

forecast sluggish annual revenue growth.

Dell Technologies ( DELL ) and HP gained 2.9% and 3.6%,

respectively, after quarterly results from China's Lenovo ( LNVGF )

beat expectations.

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500

by a 1.8-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted 28 new highs and one new low; the Nasdaq

recorded 138 new highs and 74 new lows.