The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite rose Thursday, staging a rebound as investors shook off concerns about mounting inflation.

Traders for months have been digesting signs that inflation is worsening amid supply-chain bottlenecks, but on Wednesday new data presented the most staggering figure yet. The Labor Department said the consumer-price index increased 6.2% in October year-over-year. That marked the quickest 12-month pace since 1990 and the fifth consecutive month of inflation above 5%.

On Thursday, however, there was evidence that investors were once again taking pricing pressures in stride. The benchmark $S&P 500 index(.SPX.US)$ added 2.56 points, or 0.1%, to end at 4649.27, reversing direction after finishing Wednesday with its largest one-day decline in more than a month. The technology-heavy $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ gained 81.58 points, or 0.5%, to finish at 15704.28.

The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$, in contrast, lost 158.71 points, or 0.4%, to end at 35921.23. The blue-chip index was pulled down, in part, by Walt Disney's worst daily performance in more than a year.

Shares of growth and technology companies, which tend to perform poorly in an inflationary environment, helped push the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite higher. $Advanced Micro Devices(AMD.US)$ gained $6.14, or 4.4%, to end at $146.01. $NVIDIA(NVDA.US)$ added $9.31, or 3.2%, to finish at $303.90. $Netflix(NFLX.US)$ rose by $10.67, or about 1.7%, to $657.58.

Financial companies, which tend to benefit from higher interest rates, also rallied. Energy and materials stocks posted strong performances, too. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks rose 0.8%.

Wednesday's slide following the inflation data was a "well-deserved pullback" after an autumn stock-market rally that pushed the S&P 500 to a stretch of repeated records, said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial. "Economic growth is still quite solid, and that's going to drive longer-term stock-market gains. We think the underlying fundamentals that got us here are still in place, and that's what investors need to keep in mind."

Even as pricing pressures remain top of mind for strategists and investors, many say they have a bullish outlook for the rest of the year. According to FactSet data through Thursday morning, stocks are coming out of a strong earnings season, during which about 81% of reporting S&P 500 companies beat earnings expectations. Investors say commentary in recent earnings calls gave them confidence that many companies can navigate inflationary pressures.

Meanwhile, the market is also entering a seasonally strong period around the holidays. Some investors also believe that current price pressures will abate.

I still think there's a significant cohort of investors who believe that if this [CPI] number is not the peak, it's likely going to peak out soon." 

-said Cliff Hodge, chief investment officer for North Carolina-based Cornerstone Wealth.

In the meantime, some investors say they are rotating into cyclical stocks that can benefit from economic growth and rising inflation. Many money managers still see the U.S. stock market as one of the best places for sizable and steady returns.

In corporate news, $Rivian Automotive(RIVN.US)$ jumped by $22.26, or 22%, to $122.99 Thursday. The electric-vehicle start-up made its public debut Wednesday, closing at $100.73 a share, well above the $78 initial offering price.

$Tesla(TSLA.US)$ lost $4.44, or 0.4%, to close at $1,063.51. Regulatory filings showed Elon Musk sold about $5 billion of shares in the automaker earlier in the week. In an online poll last weekend, Twitter users directed the chief executive to sell 10% of his stake in the company.

$Walt Disney(DIS.US)$ fell by $12.34, or 7.1%, to $162.11, its largest one-day percentage decline since June 2020, after the company reported a slowdown in subscriber growth as lockdowns eased Wednesday. Plant-based meat company $Beyond Meat(BYND.US)$ sank by $12.55, or 13%, to close at $81.93 after it posted a disappointing revenue forecast, citing pandemic-related uncertainty on demand.

The U.S. bond market was closed Thursday for the Veterans Day holiday.

Overseas, the pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 ticked up 0.3% to finish with a new record close.

In Asia, most major benchmarks rose. The Shanghai Composite Index added 1.2%, while the Hang Seng Index climbed 1%.