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US stocks gain as inflation shows signs of moderating

Wall Street stocks rose early Friday, extending a recent positive run for the market following U.S. data that suggested inflation is moderating.

Commerce Department data showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbed 0.2 percent after several months of accelerating at more than twice that pace.

The report also showed that expenditures jumped 0.9 percent, suggesting "US consumers may feel sour about inflation, but they are still spending at a healthy clip," as Oxford Economics Lydia Boussour put it.

The data gives support to the argument from stock market bulls that the United States economy is moving past -- or has progressed from -- a period of "peak inflation," after which there will be less grim consumer price news in the months ahead.

About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.8 percent at 32,880.57.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.4 percent to 4,116.31, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.0 percent to 11,970.10.

Among individual companies, Gap fell 3.6 percent after reporting a quarterly loss of $162 million following weak sales at its Old Navy brand.

Costco Wholesale advanced 1.7 percent after reporting higher earnings on a 16.3 percent jump in revenues to $51.6 million.

Source: Agence France Presse


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