NEW YORK — Stocks are higher after U.S. and Japanese central banks reaffirmed plans to keep interest rates low in an effort to drive economic growth.
A report Wednesday on inflation provided further assurance that the Federal Reserve shouldn’t have to raise its key lending rate anytime soon. The Fed said Tuesday it would hold its key interest rate at historic lows.
The Labor Department’s Producer Price Index fell 0.6 percent last month. Economists had forecast a drop of 0.2 percent.
Excluding volatile energy and food costs, the index rose 0.1 percent.
The Dow Jones industrial average is up 25.47, or 0.2 percent, at 10,711.45. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up 1.28, or 0.1 percent, at 1,160.74, while the Nasdaq composite index is up 4.78, or 0.2 percent, at 2,382.79.
