S&P 500 ekes out a third day of gains as traders shake off a hot inflation report

Stocks recovered from lows reached earlier on Thursday, with investors buying the dip once again in spite of a dour wholesale inflation report.

The late-day gains mean the S&P 500 notched its third straight record close, by the slimmest of margins, settling up 0.03% at 6,468.54. The Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average were marginally lower, with the tech heavy index ending the day down 0.01% at 21,710.67, and the 30-stock Dow losing 11.01 points, or 0.02%, to close at 44,911.26.

The S&P and Nasdaq were both down 0.4% at their lows before bouncing back. The Dow shed more than 200 points at one point. The major averages were hurt by July’s producer price index reading, which suggested that a Federal Reserve rate cut is far from guaranteed.

Wholesale prices rose 0.9% on the month, much more than the 0.2% economists polled by Dow Jones were expecting. The index had come in flat in June. Wholesale prices can be a leading indicator for consumer prices.