(AP) — Wall Street is adding to its winning week Thursday following the latest signal that inflation is continuing to ease its chokehold on the economy. The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in midday trading and on pace for its seventh winning week in the last nine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 61 points, or 0.2%, at 34,408, as of 11 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher as Big Tech stocks led the way. Stocks are building on gains after more data raised hopes that inflation is cooling enough to convince the Federal Reserve to end its blistering run of hikes to interest rates very soon. Inflation at the wholesale level slowed more than expected in June, and prices paid by producers were just 0.1% higher during the month than a year earlier. That’s down from 11.2% inflation last summer.
