Wall Street stocks opened higher Thursday, buoyed for a second day by better-than-expected US inflation data which has raised hopes the Federal Reserve can move less aggressively to hike lending rates.

The latest data showed that US wholesale prices cooled sharply in July, with a steep 0.5 percent drop compared to June, while the annual increase slowed amid falling energy costs.

That came on the heels of Wednesday's report showing the annual US consumer price index eased to 8.5 percent in July from a 40-year high of 9.1 percent the previous month. And in a big surprise, monthly CPI was unchanged.

The widely-anticipated CPI report prompted a Wall Street rally, with the Nasdaq surging nearly three percent on Wednesday.

About 20 minutes into Thursday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6 percent at 33,466.00.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent to 4,239.50, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.8 percent to 13,497.25.

Despite the rally, market watchers warned consumers will still be feeling inflation's bitter sting for months to come.

"It is highly unlikely that Main Street has the same celebratory sense when it comes to inflation," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"Wall Street moves based on what it believes Main Street will see roughly six months down the road," he said.

Among individual shares, Disney was up 8.4 percent after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings, as well as a leap in paying subscribers for its streaming service.