US equity indexes ended higher Thursday after a weak producer price inflation report and a drop in crude oil prices.

* The Producer Price Index held steady in July, following a 0.1% decrease in June, versus the 0.2% gain expected in a Bloomberg-compiled survey.

* US commercial crude oil inventories increased by a staggering 17.4 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 7, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report on Wednesday.

* September West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $1.99 to settle at $81.28 per barrel, while October Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $1.93 at $87.05 after the International Energy Agency projected global demand to contract by 1.6 million barrels per day this year.

* Workday (WDAY) is in talks to be acquired by private equity firm Silver Lake, Reuters reported Thursday. Shares of the company were up roughly 18%, the top gainer on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

* Tapestry (TPR) shares were down nearly 16%, the worst performer on the S&P 500, after the company issued a full-year outlook below analyst estimates at the midpoint on Thursday, after reporting stronger-than-expected fiscal Q4 earnings.