U.S. Stocks Moving Moderately Higher Following Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - Following the significant rebound seen in the previous sessions, stocks have seen some further upside during trading on Friday. The major averages have all moved higher, largely offsetting the sharp pullback seen on Wednesday.

Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but holding on to gains. The Dow is up 64.30 points or 0.2 percent at 37,468.65, the Nasdaq is up 58.81 points or 0.4 percent at 15,022.68 and the S&P 500 is up 19.05 points or 0.4 percent at 4,765.80.

The strength on Wall Street comes following the release of a highly anticipated Commerce Department report showing consumer price growth in the U.S. slowed by more than expected in the month of November.

The report said the annual rate of consumer price growth decelerated to 2.6 percent in November from a downwardly revised 2.9 percent in October.

Economists had expected the pace of price growth to slow to 2.8 percent from the 3.0 percent originally reported for the previous month.

The annual rate of growth by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, also slowed to 3.2 percent in November from a downwardly revised 3.4 percent in October.

Economists had expected core consumer price growth to decelerate to 3.3 percent from the 3.5 percent originally reported for the previous month.

The readings on inflation, which are said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve, were included in the Commerce Department's report on personal income and spending.

The bigger than expected slowdown in consumer price growth has added to optimism the Fed is poised to pivot to cutting interest rates early next year.

Meanwhile, a steep drop by shares of Nike (NKE) is limiting the upside for the Dow, with the athletic apparel and footwear giant plunging by 10.7 percent.

The nosedive by Nike comes after the company lowered its revenue outlook and unveiled plans to cut $2 billion in costs over the next three years.

Sector News

Biotechnology stocks are turning in some of the market's best performances on the day, resulting in a 2.2 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. The index has reached its best intraday level in almost five months.

Significant strength is also visible among gold stocks, as reflected by the 1.8 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The strength in the gold sector comes amid a sharp increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for February delivery surging $21.40 to $2,072.70 an ounce.

Utilities, networking and natural gas stocks are also seeing notable strength, while most of the other major sectors are showing more modest moves.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stocks across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a lackluster performance during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index edged down by 0.1 percent.

The major European markets are also little changed on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index is just above the unchanged line and the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have moved slightly lower over the course of the session after seeing initial strength. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 1.2 basis points at 3.906 percent.