US stocks trade higher on cooler inflation data

US stocks trade higher on cooler inflation data

Wall Street stocks rose early on December 22 ahead of the Christmas holiday and on the back of lower inflation figures.

Around 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 percent at 37,475.67.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index bounced 0.5 percent to 15,030.80, while the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.4 percent to 4,767.03.

The positive moves came after Friday data showed that the Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge eased in November.

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.6 percent from a year ago in November, below October's 2.9 percent figure, according to the Department of Commerce.

This brings the number closer to the Fed's long-term two percent target, with analysts calling the figures encouraging and noting that rate cuts are starting to come into view.

"The key takeaway from the report is that it threads the needle for a Fed aiming to bring down inflation with higher rates, but not tank the economy in the process," Patrick O'Hare, of Briefing.com, said in a note.

Among individual companies, sports giant Nike saw its shares tumble more than 10 percent early on December 22 after it promised up to $2 billion in cost savings involving job cuts, as it eyes softer sales in the coming period.