New Delhi, Aug. 13 -- US stocks climbed toward record levels on Thursday as easing oil prices and softer-than-expected wholesale inflation strengthened expectations that the Federal Reserve may avoid raising interest rates next month.

At 10:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 190.02 points, or 0.36%, to 53,960.29, the S&P 500 gained 56.52 points, or 0.73%, to 7,805.02 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 244.05 points, or 0.92%, to 26,832.54.

At the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58.3 points, or 0.11%, to 53828.55. The S&P 500 rose 14.7 points, or 0.19%, to 7763.18​, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 42.9 points, or 0.16%, to 26631.341.

The latest Producer Price Index (PPI) data showed that wholesale i...