US STOCKS-Wall St climbs after August inflation report, oil price slide

By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi

Sept 11 (Reuters) - The main U.S. stock indexes rose on Friday, putting them on track to end a rough week on a positive note, even as data showed consumer prices accelerated in August.

The Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% last month after edging up 0.1% in July, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. In the 12 months through August, consumer inflation advanced 3.4%, after rising by the same margin in July.

"Those numbers are still stubborn. This to me is an in-line print that will probably not satisfy anybody, whether you're bullish or bearish," said Joe Saluzzi, co-founder and co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading.

Fluctuating interest rate expectations have left the market backdrop fragile as stocks navigate a confluence of headwinds, including the intensifying Middle East conflict and elevated Treasury yields.

The CPI report followed Thursday's slightly hotter-than-expected Producer Price Index reading that did little to reassure investors.

"We believe that the Federal Reserve needs to respond to these in the near term or risk a repeat of the high inflation of the 1970s, which would represent yet another failure of discretionary monetary policy," according to Said Haidar, founder of Haidar Capital Management.

At 9:38 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 638.99 points, or 1.23%, to 52,703.09; the S&P 500 .SPX gained 79.87 points, or 1.05%, to 7,671.57; and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 280.58 points, or 1.08%, to 26,362.30.

The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, Wall Street's fear gauge, fell 1.74 points to 16.16, signaling easing investor anxiety following the inflation report.

Traders see a 86% chance of a hike at the Fed's next meeting, compared with nearly 70% before the report, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

All 11 major S&P 500 indexes traded in the green, with the technology index .SPLRCT leading gains, up 1.3%. Industrials .SPLRCI and real estate .SPLRCR indexes also rose 0.8% each.

"Some investors are questioning how much further this year's rally can run. Encouragingly, history suggests that strong starts tend to persist," wrote Jeff Schulze, head investment strategist at Franklin Templeton Institute.

Since 1950, in years when the S&P 500 gained over 10% through August, the index went on rising from September through December in 25 of 28 instances, according to Schulze.

Brent crude futures slipped more than 3% but were still above $104 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures slipped but were close to the $100-a-barrel mark.

Meanwhile, Oracle ORCL.N rose 2.5% after topping estimates for quarterly results late Thursday, which reassured shareholders that its AI investments were generating returns.

Adobe ADBE.O slipped 2.5% after the midpoint of its fourth-quarter revenue forecast fell short of expectations.

Shares of ACV Auctions ACVA.N soared 44.4% after online vehicle auctioneer Copart CPRT.O agreed to buy it in a nearly $1.9 billion deal.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.56-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 3.68-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and one new low while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 27 new highs and 45 new lows.