New York: Wall Street stocks rose in early trading Thursday after tame consumer inflation data dented the prospects for more aggressive Federal Reserve action to hike interest rates.
About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent to 24,636.68.
The broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to 2,708.62 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index also advanced 0.4 percent to 7,369.51.
The Consumer Price Index, which tracks costs for household goods and services, rose 0.2 percent compared to March, seasonally adjusted, below the 0.3 percent expected by analysts.
Analysts varied in their view of the data, with RDQ Economics analysts saying they still expect inflation to soon exceed he Fed’s target.
But Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare, noted that stocks rose following the data, which “helped temper concerns about the potential for the Fed to be more aggressive than expected.”
The figures were the latest to illustrate that inflation has not so far leapfrogged to levels that would prompt the Fed to lift interest rates more swiftly than the current pace.
AFP