Broad Market Indicators

Broad-market exchange-traded funds IWM and IVV were higher. Actively traded Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.7%.

US equity indexes rose midday Thursday as communication services and energy led the sector charts following a hot August inflation report.

Energy

iShares US Energy ETF (IYE) rose 0.9% and Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) added 1%.

Technology

Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) gained 0.6%; iShares US Technology ETF (IYW) and iShares Expanded Tech Sector ETF (IGM) were higher.

SPDR S&P Semiconductor (XSD) lost 0.1%, and iShares Semiconductor (SOXX) was 0.2% lower.

Financial

Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) added 0.1%. Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3X Shares (FAS) was 0.4% higher and its bearish counterpart Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X Shares (FAZ) shed 0.2%.

Commodities

Crude was up 3%; United States Oil Fund (USO) rose 3.2%. Natural gas rose 4.9%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) added 4.8%.

Gold edged up 1.4% on Comex, and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) added 1.6%. Silver was 4.1% higher, and iShares Silver Trust (SLV) rose 4.2%.

Consumer

Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) was up 0.2%; Vanguard Consumer Staples ETF (VDC) and iShares Dow Jones US Consumer Goods (IYK) were mixed with the latter declining.

Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR (XLY) was up 0.7%; retail fund VanEck Vectors Retail ETF (RTH) and SPDR S&P Retail (XRT) were higher.

Health Care

Health Care Select Sector SPDR (XLV) was fractionally up; iShares US Healthcare (IYH) and Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) were higher. iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF (IBB) dipped 0.2%.

Industrial

Select Sector SPDR-Industrial (XLI) rose 0.4%. Vanguard Industrials (VIS) and iShares US Industrials (IYJ) were higher.