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CarMax ( KMX ) drops after Q4 results miss

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Rent a Runway surges amid AI frenzy

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March producer prices at 2.1% YoY vs 2.2% est

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Indexes up: Dow 0.24%, S&P 0.83%, Nasdaq 1.47%

(Updates to 14:07 EDT)

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, April 11 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks rebounded from a steep sell-off on Thursday as

fresh economic data rekindled hopes that inflation remains in a

cooling trend.

Interest rate-sensitive megacaps boosted the tech-heavy

Nasdaq sharply higher, while the S&P 500 and the Dow were

modestly lower.

The Producer Prices index (PPI) came in cooler than

expected, supporting the narrative that price growth is still

cooling.

On Wednesday, hotter-than-expected CPI data sent stocks

sharply lower and benchmark Treasury yields to their highest

level since November. The report doused hopes that the central

bank could implement as many as three rate cuts before year-end,

possibly starting as soon as its June policy meeting.

"There' been a lot of trepidation in the market, even

heading into the CPI reading yesterday," Joseph Sroka, chief

investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. "There was probably

an equal amount of trepidation coming into today for the PPI

report, which was obviously more in line with expectations."

While the PPI data was more encouraging, the data did

indicate that inflation's journey down toward the central bank's

annual 2% target might be too meandering for the Fed.

John Williams, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New

York, said "there's no clear need to adjust monetary policy in

the very near term."

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin cited the latest

inflation data, saying the central bank is not yet confident

pricing pressures will continue to ease.

"Investors are starting to absorb the possibility that maybe

inflation's could linger just a little bit longer and the Fed's

going to continue to remain patient, which is their big word

right now," Sroka added.

Investors now switch their focus to first-quarter earnings

season, with results from three major U.S. banks - JPMorgan

Chase & Co ( JPM ), Citigroup Inc ( C/PN ), and Wells Fargo & Co ( WFC )

- due Friday morning.

At 2:07PM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose

93.66 points, or 0.24%, to 38,555.17, the S&P 500 gained

42.94 points, or 0.83%, to 5,203.58 and the Nasdaq Composite

added 237.51 points, or 1.47%, to 16,407.87.

Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, tech was

out front, while energy shares were the laggards.

The FANG+ index of megacap momentum stocks was a

clear outperformer, gaining 2.3%.

CarMax ( KMX ) slid 11.5% after the pre-owned vehicles

retailer missed analysts' estimates for fourth-quarter results

and said it might not meet its long-term vehicle sales target.

Globe Life ( GL ) tumbled 43.4% after Fuzzy Panda Research

disclosed a short position in the company, alleging multiple

instances of insurance fraud.

Rent the Runway ( RENT ) skyrocketed by 129.9% after the

apparel rental company said it was betting on artificial

intelligence to power its current year growth.

Biotech firm Alpine Immune Sciences ( ALPN ) is to be

acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals ( VRTX ) for about $4.9

billion in cash, both companies said. Alpine surged 36.8%.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a

1.20-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.35-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&P 500 posted 7 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows; the

Nasdaq Composite recorded 41 new highs and 103 new lows.