The S&P 500 rose 7.18 points, or 0.2%, to 4,502.88. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 163.51 points, or 0.5%, to 34,991.21, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by 9.45 points, or 0.1%, to 14,103.84.

Target helped lead the market with a 17.8% jump after it reported much stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. But another big retailer, TJX, fell 3.3% after the parent company of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls gave a profit forecast for the upcoming holiday shopping season that fell short of analysts’ estimates.

Halfway through November, the S&P 500 already jumped 7.4%, which would make this its best month in a year if it does nothing else for two weeks.

Wall Street’s overall moves were more tentative coming off its best day since April, when an encouraging report on inflation boosted investors’ hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be done with interest rate hikes.

That bolstered hopes the Fed can pull off the balancing act of getting high inflation under control without causing a painful recession. The Fed already yanked its main interest rate to its highest level since 2001, up from virtually zero early last year.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.53% from 4.45% late Tuesday, adding some pressure onto financial markets after steep drops the prior day helped stocks rally.

Another report on inflation Wednesday came in lower than expected. Prices at the wholesale level were 1.3% higher in October than a year earlier, and they surprisingly fell from September’s levels. That breathed more life into hopes that inflation is cooling enough for the Fed to halt its rate hikes.

But a separate report on sales at U.S. retailers released Wednesday “complicates the picture,” according to Chris Larkin, managing director at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. Sales fell 0.1% in October from September, better than the 0.3% drop forecast by economists. Stronger-than-expected retail sales is an indicator of a healthier economy but also could feed into upward pressure on inflation.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which tends to track expectations for the Fed, rose to 4.91% from 4.84% late Tuesday.

Abroad, stock indexes jumped in Asia: Hong Kong’s Hang Seng surged 3.9%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.5% and South Korea’s Kospi rose 2.2%.

Reports showed Japan’s economy contracted during the summer. Meanwhile, a report showed the Chinese economy, the world’s second-largest, is holding up even as some indicators slowed.

Stocks were also higher in Europe, but by more modest amounts than in Asia.