U.S. stocks are holding relatively steady Thursday following a couple reports on the economy that came in close to expectations.

The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged in early trading and remains on track for a fourth winning week in the last five. It's climbed back within 2% of its record set in July following a shaky summer.

The post-pandemic spike in U.S. inflation eased further last month as year-over-year price increases reached a three-year low, clearing the way for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next week.

Wednesday's report from the Labor Department showed that consumer prices rose 2.5% in August from a year earlier. It was the fifth straight annual drop and the smallest such increase since February 2021. From July to August, prices rose just 0.2%.

Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, began a visit to Iraq on Wednesday, aiming to deepen already close ties with the neighboring country on his first trip abroad since taking office.

The three-day trip comes amid turmoil in the Middle East sparked by the war in Gaza, which has drawn in Iran-backed armed groups around the region and complicated Iraq's relations with the United States.

Most U.S. stocks are ticking higher, offering a respite following weeks of sharp swings. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% in early trading Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 67 points, and the Nasdaq composite was up 0.8%. Oracle jumped 10% after delivering better profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Stocks have been careening down and up since setting their latest all-time high in July amid worries about the slowing economy and whether coming cuts to interest rates will keep the U.S. out of a possible recession. Treasury yields were relatively steady in the bond market.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

Coming off the worst trading week in close to a year-and-a-half, markets on Wall Street are poised to rebound at the opening bell Monday.

Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% in premarket trading.

A Lebanese judge Monday issued an arrest warrant for ex-central bank chief Riad Salameh, a judicial official said, after the embattled former governor was questioned in an embezzlement case.

Salameh, 74, who led the central bank for three decades, faces numerous charges including embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion in separate probes in crisis-hit Lebanon and abroad.

The charges against detained former Central Bank chief Riad Salameh will be focused on the file of the $40 million commissions, a media report said on Friday.

Opening all files “will lead to a years-long or perhaps decades-long trial that does not end, given the complicated details, in addition to the obstacles that will be put in the way and the pressures that will be practiced on the judiciary due to political interference,” Annahar newspaper reported.

The eurozone economy's growth in the second quarter this year was slightly smaller than previously estimated after the EU's statistics agency on Friday revised its data.

The 20-country single currency zone's recorded economic growth of 0.2 percent between April and June from the previous quarter, down from the 0.3 percent estimate in July.

The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Thursday announced the completion of the Arab world's first nuclear power plant, calling it a "significant step".

Despite her well-paying tech job, Li Daijing didn't hesitate when her cousin asked for help running a restaurant in Mexico City. She packed up and left China for the Mexican capital last year, with dreams of a new adventure.

The 30-year-old woman from Chengdu, the Sichuan provincial capital, hopes one day to start an online business importing furniture from her home country.