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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Stocks pushed higher Wednesday morning, as investors weighed falling Treasury bond yields, flat oil prices and a surprise rise in a key inflation indicator.
The Dow Jones industrial average (up 21.78 to 10,708.22, Charts), the broader S&P 500 (up 2.96 to 1,231.97, Charts) index and the Nasdaq composite (up 3.99 to 2,190.73, Charts) added a few points.
Stocks slumped Tuesday as investors bailed out of some of the leaders of the recent advance, including energy and financial shares.
After that decline, investors made only tentative moves Wednesday morning, particularly following the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Prices paid by consumers increased 0.2 percent in October, after rising 1.2 percent in September. Wall Street economists expected an unchanged reading. The so-called "core" CPI, which strips out often volatile food and energy, was up 0.2 percent, in line with forecasts. The core gained 0.1 percent in September. (Full Story.)
Among early stock movers, the homebuilders were strong, sending the Dow Jones Home Construction (down $9.93 to $866.32, Research) index up 1.2 percent.
Abercrombie & Fitch (up $3.16 to $60.05, Research) shares jumped after reporting improved earnings and revenue late Tuesday that topped estimates. The clothing retailer also boosted its forecast for the full year.
U.S. light crude oil for December fell 3 cents to $56.95 a barrel in electronic trading.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.52 percent from 4.56 percent late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The dollar rallied versus the euro and yen.
COMEX gold rallied $6.50 to $475.50 an ounce.
In global trade, major Asian markets ended higher and European markets fell at midday.
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