Discovering Undiscovered Gems in Asia June 2025
Name
Debt To Equity
Revenue Growth
Earnings Growth
Health Rating
Wuxi Xinan Technology
NA
11.99%
4.45%
★★★★★★
Hangzhou Xili Intelligent TechnologyLtd
NA
11.73%
9.57%
★★★★★★
Hubei Three Gorges Tourism Group
11.24%
-15.32%
17.90%
★★★★★★
Shangri-La Hotel
NA
23.33%
39.56%
★★★★★★
Hongmian Zhihui Science and Technology InnovationLtd.Guangzhou
15.92%
-28.99%
46.16%
★★★★★★
Tohoku Steel
NA
5.34%
-2.26%
★★★★★★
Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings
13.81%
-0.34%
-27.47%
★★★★★☆
KC
2.19%
8.76%
-0.47%
★★★★★☆
ASRock Rack Incorporation
26.93%
225.32%
6287.64%
★★★★☆☆
Tibet TourismLtd
27.63%
9.10%
17.00%
★★★★☆☆
Click here to see the full list of 2608 stocks from our Asian Undiscovered Gems With Strong Fundamentals screener.
Let's explore several standout options from the results in the screener.
Simply Wall St Value Rating: ★★★★★☆
Overview: ChengDu ShengNuo Biotec Co., Ltd. focuses on the research, development, production, sale, and export of peptide drugs and has a market capitalization of CN¥5.46 billion.
Operations: ShengNuo Biotec generates revenue primarily through the sale and export of peptide drugs. The company's financial performance is highlighted by its net profit margin, which has shown significant variation over recent periods.
ChengDu ShengNuo Biotec Ltd, a small player in the biotech sector, has shown impressive financial growth recently. Its Q1 2025 earnings reported sales of CNY 184.34 million, a significant jump from CNY 104.06 million the previous year. Net income also rose to CNY 47.12 million from CNY 16.47 million, showcasing strong profitability with basic earnings per share increasing to CNY 0.42 from CNY 0.15 last year. Despite its volatile share price over the past three months, the company's debt is well managed with an EBIT interest coverage of 14 times and a satisfactory net debt to equity ratio of approximately 28%.
Click here to discover the nuances of ChengDu ShengNuo BiotecLtd with our detailed analytical health report.
Assess ChengDu ShengNuo BiotecLtd's past performance with our detailed historical performance reports.
Simply Wall St Value Rating: ★★★★★★
Overview: Innuovo Technology Co., Ltd. operates in the research, development, production, and sale of rare earth permanent magnet materials both in China and internationally, with a market capitalization of CN¥12.20 billion.
Operations: The company's revenue primarily stems from the sale of rare earth permanent magnet materials. The net profit margin has shown variability, reflecting changes in cost structures and market conditions.
Innuovo Technology, a smaller player in Asia's tech scene, has been making waves with its impressive financial performance. Over the past year, earnings surged by 114%, outpacing the industry average of -4.4%. The company trades at 49% below its estimated fair value, indicating potential undervaluation. Despite a slight dip in sales to CNY 839 million from CNY 895 million last year, net income rose to CNY 69 million from CNY 66 million. Innuovo also announced a final cash dividend of CNY 1.24 per share for A shares in 2024 and completed a significant buyback of nearly 19 million shares worth over CNY106 million.
Click to explore a detailed breakdown of our findings in Innuovo Technology's health report.
Understand Innuovo Technology's track record by examining our Past report.
Simply Wall St Value Rating: ★★★★★★
Overview: Guomai Technologies, Inc. operates in China offering internet of things technology services, consulting and design, science park operation and development, as well as education services with a market cap of CN¥11.88 billion.
Operations: Guomai Technologies generates revenue primarily through its internet of things technology services, consulting and design, science park operation and development, and education services. The company focuses on providing comprehensive solutions in these areas to drive its financial performance. Net profit margin trends provide insight into the company's profitability dynamics over time.
Guomai Technologies, a debt-free player in the IT sector, stands out with a Price-To-Earnings ratio of 59x, notably lower than the industry average of 85.4x. The company recently reported impressive earnings growth of 67.4% over the past year, significantly outperforming the IT industry's -13.7%. Despite some volatility in its share price recently, Guomai's financial health remains robust with a notable one-off gain of CN¥81.8M impacting its latest results as of March 2025. Additionally, their dividend strategy includes a cash distribution plan offering CN¥0.80 per 10 shares for 2024 profits, indicating solid shareholder returns.
Delve into the full analysis health report here for a deeper understanding of Guomai Technologies.
Examine Guomai Technologies' past performance report to understand how it has performed in the past.
Investigate our full lineup of 2608 Asian Undiscovered Gems With Strong Fundamentals right here.
Are any of these part of your asset mix? Tap into the analytical power of Simply Wall St's portfolio to get a 360-degree view on how they're shaping up.
Simply Wall St is a revolutionary app designed for long-term stock investors, it's free and covers every market in the world.
Explore high-performing small cap companies that haven't yet garnered significant analyst attention.
Fuel your portfolio with companies showing strong growth potential, backed by optimistic outlooks both from analysts and management.
Find companies with promising cash flow potential yet trading below their fair value.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Companies discussed in this article include SHSE:688117 SZSE:000795 and SZSE:002093.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
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Business Wire
3 hours ago
- Business Wire
STARLUX Airlines Announces Partnership with American Airlines
TAIPEI, Taiwan & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--On the heels of the announcement of its new nonstop flights from Phoenix, Arizona to Taipei, STARLUX Airlines revealed another milestone — a partnership with American Airlines today. With this new partnership, passengers on both airlines will have convenient access to more routes connecting North America and Taipei. The new Interline Partnership with American creates enhanced convenience for travelers, offering single-ticket booking and through-checked luggage between American's extensive North American network and STARLUX's transpacific and Asian routes. Passengers can easily connect to Taipei from numerous American cities including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth, Mexico City and more. 'We are very honored to have the partnership with American Airlines — one of the United States top airlines,' said STARLUX CEO Glenn Chai. 'The partnership will greatly expand STARLUX's reach into the U.S., with customers accessing American's vast North American network. It will also increase travel choices for American Airlines customers looking to travel to Taipei.' 'American is delighted to offer more travel options for customers with STARLUX,' said Anmol Bhargava, American's Senior Vice President of Alliances. 'Through this interline partnership, customers can enjoy convenient connections from Taipei to more than 250 destinations in North America. We look forward to working with STARLUX to enhance opportunities for American's customers to travel from North America to Taipei.' With the launch of STARLUX Airlines' Taipei–Phoenix route, the networks of both airlines will become even more seamlessly connected. As a key hub in the southwestern U.S. for American Airlines, Phoenix offers strategic advantages. To maximize convenience for travelers heading to North America, STARLUX has scheduled its Phoenix flights to allow smooth connections to American flights bound for major U.S. cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, Dallas, Las Vegas, and more. Flight JX026 from Taipei arrives in Phoenix at 5:40 p.m. local time, allowing travelers to connect to over 40 domestic U.S. destinations via American. The return flight, JX025 from Phoenix to Taipei, is scheduled to depart at 10:45 p.m., enabling passengers from more than 60 U.S. cities to fly American into Phoenix and then transfer to STARLUX's flight to Taipei. Single-ticket booking for STARLUX and American flights are now available through travel agents. Meanwhile, STARLUX has just launched ticket sales for its new route between Taipei and Phoenix. The route will be operated with Airbus A350 aircraft, offering a total of 306 seats: four in First Class, 26 in Business, 36 in Premium Economy, and 240 in Economy. For more information, visit About STARLUX Airlines Founded on the philosophy that luxury should be available to everyone, not just the elite, Taiwan-based STARLUX is a boutique international airline serving a total of 29 destinations from Taiwan to the U.S., Japan, Macau, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. STARLUX passengers traveling between Asia and North America are able to enjoy an easy transfer in Taipei with its four U.S. routes: Taipei-Los Angeles, Taipei-San Francisco, Taipei-Seattle and Taipei-Ontario, CA. On January 15, 2026, STARLUX will launch its fifth U.S. destination—Phoenix, further strengthening its transpacific network. STARLUX prioritizes safety and offers unparalleled service with the goal of making flying a truly luxurious and unforgettable experience. About American Airlines As a leading global airline, American Airlines offers thousands of flights per day to more than 350 destinations in more than 60 countries. The airline is a founding member of the one world alliance, whose members serve more than 900 destinations around the globe. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. Learn more about what's happening at American by visiting and connect with American @AmericanAir and at To Care for People on Life's Journey®.
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
Finding Dora
Months ago, Ahmet Tozal took out three credit card loans and withdrew his life savings to make a fortune off crypto. The 44-year-old Turkish garment worker, who lived in Istanbul at the time, said he'd been goaded by a new friend who contacted him via a random WhatsApp message in 2023. The woman claimed she'd messaged him accidentally, but was friendly and seemed interested in Turkey, Tozal said. She told him she was a wealthy businesswoman who would soon be visiting his country on holiday. Tozal said she sent him dozens of photos of herself, a young East Asian woman traveling the world and attending prestigious conferences. He said they video-called once, for a few seconds. Eventually, she suggested he try investing in crypto. The trajectory of their relationship has the hallmarks of what global authorities call a classic pig-butchering scam, typically run by gangs in Asia. Tozal said that over several weeks, the woman convinced him to invest about 400,000 Turkish lira, or a year's worth of his wages, into a cryptocurrency called UAI Coin. It never existed. Tozal told me he lost everything. Saddled with debt and broke, Tozal moved alone to Uzbekistan to find a higher salary that could feed his family and pay off an extra 200,000 lira in loan interest. His wife and four children stayed behind in Turkey. "Whenever I think about it, it makes one almost go mad," he told me on a call from his shared apartment in Andijan. Pig-butchering, a crypto scam that started in China, is now a global crisis. It draws its name from the concept of fattening a pig before slaughter: The purveyors build a relationship with a mark over weeks or months before persuading them to give away or invest large sums. A 2024 University of Texas study estimated that $75 billion has been lost to such schemes since 2020. In 2023, the Heartland Tri-State Bank in Kansas went bankrupt after its CEO poured $47 million of company cash into a similar scam. Tozal has little chance of recovering his money, and dozens of other men say they were fooled by the same scam. Betrayed and desperate for any restitution possible, they latched onto the only lead they could find: the woman behind the screen. Who was she? Each of the men had photos and videos of her, the young East Asian woman who seemed to be living the high life, but not much else to go on. As they hunted for answers, their stories of loss and grievance would come to haunt a person thousands of miles away, a millennial trying to make a name for herself on Instagram. For months, as he was lured into the crypto trap, Tozal knew her only as Dora. Over nine months, I spoke with more than a dozen men from around the world — many in Central and West Asia — who say they've been affected by this specific pig-butchering scam. While their experiences varied, each one was tricked with the likeness of the same Asian woman. Seven of these men, including Tozal, agreed to full interviews. I verified all of their identities, and they showed me evidence of their online interactions. Several also showed me screenshots of their financial transactions. Many were unwilling to be named and said they did not report their losses to the authorities for fear of being seen as fools and damaging their reputations. Some said they'd fallen in love with their WhatsApp acquaintance; Tozal said he and Dora were strictly friends. The men come from different companies and walks of life. The common denominator? They all had jobs and thus a source of cash. Aamy Ace, a 44-year-old Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing worker, said he was cheated out of $12,000 meant for his father's cancer treatment. Another man, a 24-year-old Kazakhstani restaurant manager in Almaty named Amir, said he borrowed and lost $8,000 — 10 times his monthly salary. They remember different names. Some said they spoke to "Jasmine" for weeks, while others knew her as "Anna." Several, like Tozal, told me their contact was "Dora." The playbook for this scam is standardized. Men like Tozal would receive a cold text and slowly be persuaded to strike up a friendship or romance with the texter. All were sent photos of the same young Asian woman. "A very standard hook is an attractive person, male or female, coming in and saying: 'Oh yeah, I have a business opportunity, I'm going to come see you soon,'" said Joshua James, a cybercrime coordinator in Bangkok with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Eventually, their contacts convinced them to invest in a fake asset. Most of the men said they put their money into a faux cryptocurrency called UAI Coin. A mobile app and fake trading website lent a sheen of legitimacy to the setup. At first, the profits seemed eye-watering. Erdi Bilgiç, a 36-year-old Turkish electrician in Zonguldak, told me his initial $100 investment turned into $500 overnight in late 2023. Bilgiç, calling himself an avid investor, said he tracks stock prices and bitcoin almost daily, and felt UAI Coin's prices moved in sync with the market. He said that when he withdrew his initial gains, he received the full sum in his bank account. Emboldened, he took out a $1,500 loan at Dora's behest, gathered his life's savings of about $10,000, and put them all in UAI Coin. "She told me: 'Sell your car, sell this, sell that,'" he said. Losing it all To Tozal and Bilgiç, it seemed as though there was only one woman contacting them. But scam gangs, many based in Southeast Asia, are known to force human-trafficked victims to work in teams, sometimes with multiple people posing as the same woman in conversation with a mark. The US Institute of Peace estimated in 2024 that some 220,000 trafficked victims are involved in scams. "Judging by a lot of testimonies of survivors of human trafficking coming from scam compounds, many of them were being asked to pose as attractive young ladies," said Mina Chiang, founder of Humanity Research Consultancy, a UK-registered anti-trafficking social enterprise. To make their ploy more convincing, gangs have a woman take part in occasional video calls or voice messages. Several men in the Dora scam told me they received voice messages and forwarded them to me. A few, including Tozal, also said they had brief video calls. These tactics helped to convince them that Dora was real, they told me. Once the men's savings are invested, the critical point of the scam unfolds. The victims discover they can't withdraw their funds, and the scammers try squeezing them for more. "It is what it is. My money is gone." Tozal said he asked Dora for help and was directed to pay a tax-related fine to unlock his account. When that didn't work, he said, an engineer's fee was required. He said he knew then that he'd been fooled. The funds he lost, including his debt, are worth about $15,000 now, in a country where the average worker earns $7,300 a year. "It is what it is. My money is gone," Tozal said. Others said they've lost even more. A 50-year-old Turkish academic in Ankara said he and his wife had sold their apartment to save for a new city-center flat and dumped that money, along with $50,000 he convinced relatives to invest, into UAI Coin. He showed me a police report he made in Ankara, in which he reported losing more than $100,000 to the scam. "I asked myself, how am I going to live? I can survive, but I have a daughter in school," he said. Now, he added, he and his wife are working weekends and second jobs to make ends meet. Finding Dora In the spring of 2024, the group scamming Tozal appeared to make a mistake. As the men nursed their wounded pride, some received an email offering further help. The sender neglected to blind carbon copy each victim's email address, and the men began to contact each other. They gathered on WhatsApp groups and social media, swapping stories of how they'd been fooled by UAI Coin. Soon, they realized they'd all been talking to the same woman. Younger ones, like Bilgiç the electrician, put her photos into a reverse Google image search. They found someone. She wasn't Dora, or Jasmine, or Anna: Her name was Abe. "I can't be sure 100% it's her, but the videos and photos that we saw online were consistent," Bilgiç said. Abe is a Malaysian woman, they learned. She lives over 5,000 miles from Tozal and Bilgiç and runs a public Instagram account. Her name quickly spread among the men. To those like Tozal, it seemed like the first real step to getting their money back. But as I soon discovered, this woman wasn't the mastermind of an audacious lonelyhearts scam; she was a different kind of victim. Abe Lim was 20 minutes late when we met at a café in Kuala Lumpur's upscale shopping district. Traffic was crazy that morning. "I'm so sorry," said the 29-year-old, sheepish as we shook hands. Lim was easy to find online, and once I got in touch with her, she was keen to talk. She has some 175,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts roughly twice or thrice a week, often glamour or fashion shots of herself. Lim told me her personal brand's focus is the climate crisis. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Abe Lim (@abe.1) Her family, she said, runs a petrochemical business that she left to build a social media following as an environmentalist. In 2023, she ran for a local state parliament seat while campaigning on climate action, but lost. Lim's day job is running a plastics recycling company she founded in 2021. She posts photos from conferences and symposiums across Asia and the US, and snaps of herself on holiday in Bali and at Buckingham Palace. The array of photos found its way into the phones of men like Bilgiç and Tozal, who believed "Dora" was a charitable multimillionaire. Sometime in late 2023, Lim said, she started receiving online messages from these men. She thought little of it at first. "Because I've sort of put myself in the public spotlight, I felt like it was expected," she said. In early 2024, she said, the men began contacting her friends and family and claiming she'd defrauded them out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. There were rumors of self-harm or suicide. "You're like, OK, this is serious now," she said. As the year went on, Lim was trapped in an escalating online storm. Messages flooded her inbox and Instagram comments. She said she received dozens of emails and texts a day and showed me several on her phone. Lim was all smiles in her interview, but her fatigue and frustration were palpable. "It's mentally draining," Lim said. Some heartbroken men tried to rekindle a nonexistent relationship with her; others sent threats, she said. For the first few months of 2024, she told me, she feared leaving her home in Malaysia. Lim now tries to delay her social media posts by a few days to keep her live location secret. "There were messages that said like: 'I'll fly down to kill you, track you down and make you pay for what you did,'" Lim said. The men were divided on whether Lim was "Dora" or an unwitting victim of someone pretending to be her. Some, like Bilgiç, said she clearly wasn't the woman they had chatted with. Several sent me recordings of their video calls, which showed East or Southeast Asian women holding up a hand or using a camera angle to obscure their faces. "Internet connection is not good," said a woman in one video I viewed. She was clearly not Lim. 'Should I compensate them?' As Lim and I sipped tea in Malaysia, she explained how she was grappling with a dilemma. With her personal brand living on Instagram, how much time should she spend defending her reputation and speaking out against scams? Should she stop posting? Her brand was about the climate crisis, not going to war against fraud. "I have a platform, it's not that hard for me," she said. "But do I want to be known as the person that combats this?" In February 2024, she posted several warnings about scams on Instagram. Some of the men were insisting she was liable for their losses because her images were used. "They say they know it's not you, but it's your photos anyway, so you should take some responsibility of compensating them with some amount," she said. Lim said she considered paying some of them until her family talked her out of it. "I had a lot of guilt," Lim said. "I felt like, would these allegations have appeared if I had brought this up in public earlier?" 'Who are you going to sue?' James, the UNODC cybercrime coordinator, said Lim fits the profile of a content creator whose images are farmed by scam rings. "This is actually just a third party that has nothing at all to do with anything in the scam, and they sometimes have to even suffer the legal consequences afterward. Because, who are you going to sue?" James said. For swindlers, Lim's account was perfect. She was not well-known enough for a target to recognize her, and she frequently posted photos of herself in new outfits or at public events — a wealth of content to exploit. Online footage and voice data can also be fed to an artificial intelligence algorithm to create a face filter for use in video calls, James added. In Lim's case, several victims sent me screenshots of video calls with scam workers, which appeared to feature AI-empowered deepfake face filters. When analyzing the screenshots, James said some images were highly suspicious, with tell-tale features of AI filters such as discoloration on the edges of the face and crispness around hair. He added that varying chin shapes and neck bumps in the webcam images also indicated the victims were likely called by at least two different women using deepfake filters. "I would say it is very likely the images with white are deepfakes," James said. Fraudsters, roaming free Lim said what frustrates her most is that she's reported dozens of Instagram and Facebook accounts using her name and photos. Many were not taken down. A Facebook search of her name shows her photos on a dozen accounts purported to be of women living in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. Some claim to run a plastics recycling company with the same name as Lim's firm. "If you have a verified account with this face," Lim said, pointing to herself. "You shouldn't allow an account with the same photo to stay up." A spokesperson for Meta, which runs Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, told me via email that it was committed to keeping its platforms safe and that it continues to "invest in detection technology and work with law enforcement to prosecute scammers." "Impersonation is against Meta's policies and we remove these accounts when they're found," the spokesperson wrote. The company said it dealt with 1 billion fake accounts on its platforms in the first quarter of this year. Meta did not comment on Lim's case specifically. Legally, Lim can't do much to compel Meta, which is headquartered in California, to take down accounts using her images, said Eric Goldman, the codirector of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University. "In the United States, Facebook may have no obligation to intervene to shut down or correct scam accounts," he said. US law protects social media firms from liability for third-party content posted on their platforms. Meanwhile, Bilgiç and other victims in Turkey have engaged local lawyers in hopes of suing whoever took their money or compelling their arrest. It'll be a long shot. "It's the general principle of criminal law. If you cannot find the person committing the crime, your hands are tied," Tarık Güleryüz, a partner at the Turkish law firm Güleryüz Partners, told me about the country's legal standards. James, the UNODC anti-cybercrime coordinator, said perpetrators know the world's law enforcement system is ill-equipped to deal with pig-butchering scams. A victim's best hope is an international coalition involving Turkey, Malaysia, and wherever the culprits are located, James said. China, a country with considerable influence in Laos and Cambodia, has performed cross-border raids there, mostly against scam rings targeting Chinese citizens. For countries like Turkey and Malaysia, nearly 5,200 miles apart, the best the men can do is hope and wait. These days, Lim is posting frequently on social media and is trying to grow her brand as an environmentalist. "All I lost was some reputation and photos. I didn't lose money, I didn't go through heartbreak with someone who didn't exist," Lim said. This year, she enrolled in a master's program for sustainable development management at Sunway University in Selangor. Tozal, who lost his life savings to "Dora," is also trying to move on. He said his wife was furious with him, and when I asked last month how their relationship was faring, Tozal said he's just trying to focus on working to support his family. He travels to see his children once every six months or so. Sitting in the kitchen of the Uzbek flat he shares with a roommate, he wondered aloud if he should blame himself. Years ago, he'd seen news reports of men falling for scams and marveled at how they could be fooled. "But when you see bits of a luxurious life coming your way, when you see the money coming into your account, inevitably you start feeling a type of way, even if you don't want to," Tozal said. He was just being human, he said. Now, he's in a foreign land, working alone. Translation by Ezgi Evrim Ozkol and Evgeniya Strygina.
5 hours ago
Asian shares mostly gain after uptick in inflation pulls US stocks lower
MANILA, Philippines -- Asian are generally higher after most stocks on Wall Street fell following a disappointing report that said inflation was worse last month at the U.S. wholesale level than economists had expected. U.S. futures rose while oil prices slipped. China reported data showing its economy was feeling pressure from higher U.S. tariffs in July, while property investments fell further. Retail sales rose 3.7% year-on-year, down from 4.8% in June, while investments in factory equipment and other fixed assets rose a meager 1.6%, compared with 2.8% growth in January-June. Uncertainty over tariffs on exports to the United States is still looming over manufacturers after President Donald Trump extended a pause in sharp hikes in import duties for 90 days following a 90-day pause that began in May. The Shanghai Composite index added 0.8% to 3,694.91, but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 1.2% to 25,216.45. 'Chinese economic activity slowed across the board in July, with retail sales, fixed asset investment, and value added of industry growth all reaching the lowest levels of the year. After a strong start, several months of cooling momentum suggest that the economy may need further policy support,' ING Economics said in a market commentary. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.7% to 43,381.10 after the government reported that the economy grew at a 1% annual pace in the April-June quarter. That was better than analysts had expected. Elsewhere in Asia, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.7% to 8,938.60, Taiwan's TAIEX gained 0.4%. India's BSE Sensex edged 0.1% higher. Attention later Friday will likely focus on an update on U.S. retail sales and on a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Thursday, seven out of every 10 stocks within the S&P 500 fell, though the index edged up by less than 0.1% to set another all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 11 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite fell less than 0.1% from its record set the day before. The inflation report said that prices jumped 3.3% last month at the U.S. wholesale level from a year earlier. That was well above the 2.5% rate that economists had forecast, and it could hint at higher inflation ahead for U.S. shoppers as higher costs make their way through the system. The data led traders to second guess their widespread consensus that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at its next meeting in September. Lower rates can boost investment prices and the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment, but they also risk worsening inflation. Higher interest rates drag on all kinds of companies by keeping the cost to borrow high. They can hurt smaller companies in particular because they often need to borrow to grow. The Russell 2000 index of smaller U.S. stocks tumbled a market-leading 1.2%. Thursday's disappointing data followed an encouraging update earlier in the week on prices at the consumer level. A separate report on Thursday, meanwhile, said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week. That's a good sign for workers, indicating that layoffs remain relatively low at a time when job openings have become more difficult to find. But a solid job market could also give the Fed less reason to cut interest rates in the short term. Big Tech stocks helped mask Wall Street's losses. Amazon rose 2.9% to add to its gains from the prior day when it announced same-day delivery of fresh groceries in more than 1,000 cities and towns. Because Amazon is so huge, with a market value of $2.45 trillion, the movements for its stock carry much more weight on the S&P 500 than the typical company's. In other dealings early Friday, U.S. benchmark crude lost 8 cents to $63.88 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, fell 11 cents to $66.73 per barrel. The dollar edged lower to 147.11 Japanese yen from 147.20 yen. The euro rose to $1.1672 from $1.1654.
