NEW YORK, May 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended higher on Tuesday, though Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated that inflation is falling more slowly than expected and will keep the central bank on hold for an extended period.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 126.60 points, or 0.32 percent, to 39,558.11. The S&P 500 added 25.26 points, or 0.48 percent, to 5,246.68. The Nasdaq Composite Index increased by 122.94 points, or 0.75 percent, to 16,511.18, notching its seventh all-time closing high for the year.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with technology and real estate leading the gainers by going up 0.93 percent and 0.69 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, consumer staples and energy led the laggards by dropping 0.22 percent and 0.13 percent, respectively.

Powell on Tuesday provided an optimistic view of the current state of the U.S. economy, predicting sustained above-trend growth. Despite recent data suggesting otherwise, Powell expressed confidence that inflation would continue to decrease. "I expect that inflation will move back down ... on a monthly basis to levels that were more like the lower readings that we were having last year," Powell said.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures prices received at the wholesale level, rose by 0.5 percent in April, surpassing the Dow Jones estimate of 0.3 percent, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Tuesday. The March reading was revised down from an initially reported growth of 0.2 percent to a decline of 0.1 percent.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core PPI also increased by 0.5 percent, above the 0.2 percent estimate. When trade services are excluded from the core group, the index showed a 0.4 percent monthly increase and a 3.1 percent rise on a 12-month basis, the highest level since April 2023.

"The market is a little bit complacent -- they've gotten accustomed to dovish rhetoric from Powell," said Megan Horneman, chief investment officer at Verdence Capital Advisors. "In our opinion, the longer this market continues to ignore what's going on in the inflation category, the bigger decline we can see at some point."

Also on Tuesday, U.S. Treasury yields continued their decline as traders concentrated on the downward revision of the March producer-price index. The benchmark 10-year yield dropped by 5.1 basis points, settling at 4.442 percent, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

GameStop's stock surged nearly 60 percent on Tuesday, continuing a meme-driven rally that saw the video game retailer's shares jump 74 percent in the previous session. The rise in GameStop's stock was mirrored by a significant increase in AMC shares. The theater chain operator's stock climbed 31 percent, following an earlier intraday gain of up to 120 percent. Enditem

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