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US stocks rise after earnings reports, inflation gauges
US stocks rose at the open on Wall Street on Friday as investors parsed earnings reports from Apple Inc and other major companies, along with the release of the US personal consumption expenditures price index, which rose 2.6% on a yearly basis.
The Dow Jones Indstrial average rose about 148 points, or 0.3%. The S&P 500 gained 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.8%.
Investors focused on Apple Inc, whose shares rose 4% in extended trading after the company beat analysts’ expectations surveyed by LSEG on both fronts for its fiscal first quarter. While Apple reported disappointing iPhone-related sales, services revenue appeared to be taking the spotlight.
December data for the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, showed a 0.3% increase from November and a 2.6% annual rate.
While the annual increase was in line with economists’ expectations, it accelerated from the previous month’s 2.4% rate, raising some concerns that inflation is still holding up.
Excluding food and energy, the core PCE index also rose 0.2% on the month and 2.8% on the year.
Friday’s move follows a winning but volatile trading session for the three major indexes. Technology has been a major focus for investors this week given Monday’s sell-off sparked by developments in Chinese AI startup DeepSeek and earnings reports from major players in recent days.
Despite these developments, only the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined and is on track to end the week with gains of about 1%. The blue-chip S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are expected to close down 0.5% and 1.4%, respectively.
