NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is ticking higher and adding a bit more to its big rally from a day before. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% early Wednesday. The Dow rose 131 points, and the Nasdaq composite added 0.3%. Target soared 13.8% after reporting much stronger profit than analysts expected. Another big retailer, TJX, fell 2% after giving a profit forecast for the holiday season that fell short of analysts’ estimates. The stock market was moving more tentatively following its best day since April, when an encouraging report on inflation raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be done raising interest rates.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Wall Street pointed higher before Wednesday's opening bell as attention shifts to major retailers that are releasing quarterly earnings in the wake of a promising inflation report this week.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% and the S&P 500 climbed 0.4%.

Target shares took off in premarket trading, rising more than 15% after the Minneapolis retailer reported better-than-expected profits and sales in its third quarter. Some of the profit gain was attributed to the company's efforts to keep costs down on the assumption that sales would lag from a year ago, which they did by 4%.

Other big retailers also forecast sales declines as consumers pay more attention to spending. TJX Cos., Walmart and Macy's all post quarterly results this week.

Home Depot reported Tuesday, beating both revenue and profit expectations even as sales continue to slide.

The government issues its retail sales report for October on Wednesday as well. Economists expect the first sales decline in seven months as inflation-weary Americans become more reluctant to spend on non-essential goods, particularly big-ticket that would require credit, now more expensive with interest rates elevated.

Markets will also have one eye on Wednesday's producer prices report, which measures inflation at the wholesale level.

Tuesday's rally followed a highly anticipated U.S. inflation report that showed overall price increases at the consumer level slowed last month, raising the odds the Federal Reserve may refrain from further market-crunching interest rate hikes.

The Fed has yanked its main interest rate to its highest level since 2001, up from virtually zero early last year, in hopes of getting inflation back down to 2%.

In Europe at midday, Britain's FTSE 100 surged more than 1%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.6% and Germany's DAX moved 0.7% higher.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 2.5% to finish at 33,519.70 as investors appeared to shrug off news that Japan’s economy contracted at a worse than expected 2.1% annual rate in July-September. In quarterly terms, it contracted 0.5%.

The world's No. 3 economy is grappling with weakening private demand from consumers and businesses, slack demand for Japan's exports and sluggish wage growth that will continue to drag on consumer spending, which is the main driver of the economy, said Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics.

“Accordingly, we expect GDP growth to slow from 1.7% this year to 0.5% in 2024,” he said in a commentary.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 3.9% to 18,079.00, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.6% to 3,072.83 after economic figures for October showed the Chinese economy is holding up even as some indicators have slowed.

Factory output and retail sales rose but property sales fell further. Lending, exports and inflation also have been lower than expected.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.4% to 7,105.90. South Korea's Kospi surged 2.2% to 2,486.67.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude fell 38 cents to $77.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was unchanged on Tuesday. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 31 cents to $82.16 a barrel.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar rose to 150.44 Japanese yen, up from 150.37 yen late Tuesday. The euro cost $1.0857, down from $1.0881.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.9% for its best day since April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.4%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.4%.

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