U.S. stocks open higher after PCE report shows inflation eases again in June

U.S. stock indexes opened higher on Friday, bouncing back from the previous session’s late day slump and looking to book narrow weekly gains after an inflation gauge that the Federal Reserve follows closely showed further signs of cooling in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.50%
rose 223 points, or 0.6%, to 35,511, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+0.99%
gained 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+1.90%
advanced 1.1%. The personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) increased a mild 0.2% from the previous month, the Commerce Department said on Friday. The so-called core PCE rate of inflation, which omits volatile food and energy costs, also rose 0.2% last month. Meanwhile, the U.S. employment cost index, the broadest measure of U.S. labor costs, rose 1% in the second quarter after gaining 1.2% in the first quarter, the Labor Department said Friday. Investors were also digesting the overnight Bank of Japan decision, where policymakers said they would allow “greater flexibility” in its target range for 10-year Japanese government bond yields.