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The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a higher open on Thursday, with stocks likely to see further upside following the rally seen over the course of the previous session.

The futures turned positive following the release of a highly anticipated Labor Department report showing consumer prices in the U.S. unexpectedly edged slightly lower in the month of June.

The Labor Department said its consumer price index slipped by 0.1 percent in June after coming in unchanged in May. Economists had expected consumer prices to inch up by 0.1 percent.

The unexpected dip by consumer prices came as another steep drop by gasoline prices more than offset a continued increase in shelter costs.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices crept up by 0.1 percent in June after rising by 0.2 percent in May. Core prices were expected to increase by another 0.2 percent.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 3.0 percent in June from 3.3 percent in May. Economists had expected the pace of price growth to decelerate to 3.1 percent.

The annual rate of core consumer price growth also slowed to 3.3 percent in June from 3.4 percent in May. The pace of growth was expected to remain unchanged.

The slowdowns by annual price growth are likely to add to optimism the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates as soon as its September meeting.

Following the lackluster performance seen during Tuesday’s session, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. With the strong upward move, the S&P 500 closed above 5,600 for the first time ever.

The major averages saw further upside going into the close, ending the day near their highs of the session. The Nasdaq surged 218.16 points or 1.2 percent to 18,647.45, the Dow shot up 429.39 points or 1.1 percent to 39,721.36 and the S&P 500 jumped 56.93 points or 1.0 percent to 5,633.91.

The rally on Wall Street was partly due to strength among technology stocks, as reflected by the notable advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which also reached a new record closing high.

The strength among tech stocks came after Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) reported its second quarter sales surged much more than expected.

Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor, which supplies chips for AI giants like Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), spiked by 3.5 percent.

Stocks may also have benefitted from optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the release of closely watched consumer price inflation data on Thursday.

During congressional testimony, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said more “good data” would strengthen the central bank’s confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2 percent target and lead to a potential interest rate cut.

Powell also warned of the risk that leaving interest rates at an elevated level for too long could jeopardize economic growth.

“In light of the progress made both in lowering inflation and in cooling the labor market over the past two years, elevated inflation is not the only risk we face,” he said. “Reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment.”

Gold stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.9 percent to its best closing level in over two years. The rally by gold stocks came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal.

Significant strength was also visible among semiconductor stocks, as reflected by the 2.4 percent surge by the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index. The index reached a new record closing high.

Housing stocks also saw considerable strength over the course of the session, resulting in a 1.9 percent jumped by the Philadelphia Housing Sector Index.

Brokerage, biotechnology and pharmaceutical stocks also saw notable strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

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