Mumbai, Sept. 11 -- The S&P 500 rose 19.43 points (0.3%) to 6,532.04 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq inched up 6.57 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 21,886.06.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand edged down by 0.1% in August after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.7% in July. The report also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 2.6% in August from a downwardly revised 3.1% in July.

The data added to recent optimism about the Federal Reserve lowering interest rates by at least a quarter point at its monetary policy meeting next week. Following the report, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently indicating a 92.1% chance of a quarter-point rate cut and a slim 7.9% chance of a half-po...