NEW YORK (AFP) – The S&P 500 finished at a fresh record on Thursday (June 10) as markets took in stride data showing another spike in annual inflation last month to the highest rate in 13 years.

The most broad based of the major equity indices gained 0.5 per cent to finish at 4,239.18 to overtake the prior record set on May 7.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.1 per cent to 34,466.24, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.8 per cent to close at 14,020.33.

The hotly anticipated consumer price index (CPI) report showed the United States inflation rate accelerated to 5 per cent for the 12 months ending May.

The increase was driven largely by spikes in energy and used car prices, which analysts attributed to separate but temporary factors.

“It’s another case where we had another blockbuster inflation report and nobody cared,” LBBW bank’s Karl Haeling told AFP.

“The market looked the other way.”

National Securities chief market strategist Art Hogan noted that while the annual CPI topped expectations, the monthly gain slowed to 0.6 per cent last month from 0.8 per cent in April, which largely validates the Federal Reserve’s stance that higher inflation will be transitory.

“We may be getting close to a peak and it will start to decelerate in the June, July timeframe,” he said.

Among individual companies, RH surged 15.7 per cent as the home and furnishings retailer lifted its full-year forecast, pointing to pent-up demand as the economy reopens from Covid-19.

GameStop sank 27.2 per cent as the video game retailer announced it had recruited a pair of Amazon executives as chief executive and chief financial officer. The company, a favourite of retail investors organised on the Reddit platform, reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.