U.S. stocks keep rising amid upbeat data

U.S. stocks ticked up in the morning session Wednesday, as Wall Street meditated on a string of generally upbeat economic reports.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 74.18 points, or 0.36 percent, to 20,578.59. The S&P 500 added 3.94 points, or 0.17 percent, to 2,341.52. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 13.73 points, or 0.24 percent, to 5,796.30.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers increased 0.6 percent in January on a seasonally adjusted basis, beating market consensus of 0.3 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Wednesday.

Over the last 12 months, the all items index rose 2.5 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The Commerce Department announced Wednesday that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for January 2017 came in at 472.1 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 0.4 percent from the previous month and above market estimates of 0.1 percent.

Following a 0.6 percent increase in December, U.S. industrial production decreased 0.3 percent in January, missing market expectations, said the Federal Reserve Wednesday.

Meanwhile, investors continued to assess Fed Chair Janet Yellen's remarks on rate hikes.

"At our upcoming meetings, the (Federal Open Market) Committee will evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with these expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate," said Yellen in her testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Tuesday.

On Tuesday, U.S. stocks kept rising, with the Nasdaq extending its record run to a six-straight session, as investors digested Yellen's comments. Endit