After softer-than-expected inflation statistics rekindled wagers that the Federal

Reserve would reduce the pace of its interest-rate rises, U.S. 

equities surged to their greatest gains in more than two years.

The rise on Thursday served as a striking reminder of how much

importance investors have placed on the trajectory of inflation this year.

The economy has remained hotter than many investors had predicted

for a large portion of 2022, which has prompted the Fed to hike interest rates

at the quickest clip in decades, sending bond yields soaring and setting the stock market up