U.S. stocks surge amid mixed data

U.S. stocks jumped in the morning session on Thursday, as mixed economic data suggested that the Federal Reserve may delay interest rate hikes despite a solid labor market.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 155.81 points, or 0.86 percent, to 18,216.30. The S&P 500 gained 15.41 points, or 0.73 percent, to 2,113.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 48. 30 points, or 0.97 percent, to 5,029.99.

In the week ending May 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 264,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 265,000, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.

The 4-week moving average was 271,750, a decrease of 7,750 from the previous week's unrevised average of 279,500. This is the lowest level for this average since April 22, 2000, when it was 266,750.

Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index for final demand fell 0.4 percent in April, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Labor reported Thursday. Final demand prices moved up 0.2 percent in March and decreased 0.5 percent in February.

"It was the seventh drop in nine months and has taken year-over- year prices deep into negative territory. Given recent price data on both a producer and consumer level, the Fed will find it hard to explain its concerns about wage inflation when current price measures remain on a downward trajectory," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

In corporate news, Cisco Systems Inc. fell 0.34 percent around midday Thursday after reporting better-than-expected third quarter results for the period ending April 25, 2015.

The tech giant announced its quarterly revenue of 12.1 billion U.S. dollars, net income on a generally accepted accounting principles basis of 2.4 billion dollars or 0.47 dollars per share. Endite