KEY POINTS:
NEW YORK - US stocks rose on Friday as tame consumer price data reassured investors that inflation was under control as the economy maintains growth.
But declines in energy shares, which had risen in recent days, checked the market's advance.
Investors earlier pushed the Dow to a intraday
record high after more robust earnings reports, particularly from technology companies underpinned the increasingly favourable sentiment about the US economy.
Shares of Adobe Systems Inc. gained 5.2 per cent to rise to US$42.94 after the design software maker late on Thursday reported higher profits and a first-quarter outlook in line with Wall Street forecasts.
The November report on the US Consumer Price Index soothed fears the Federal Reserve might have to resume raising interest rates to keep inflation in check. Both CPI and core CPI, which excludes food and energy, were unchanged from October, the Labor Department said.
"The market has had a huge run," said Christopher Zook, chief investment officer with CAZ Investments in Houston, adding that "energy being down is taking some of the wind out of the sails of the Dow in particular, and the S&P."
The Dow Jones industrial average was up 40.70 points, or 0.33 per cent, at 12,457.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.50 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 1,427.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.62 points, or 0.23 per cent, at 2,459.47.
The November report on the US Consumer Price Index soothed fears the Federal Reserve might have to resume raising interest rates to keep inflation in check. Both CPI and core CPI, which excludes food and energy, were unchanged from October, the Labor Department said.
Shares of companies whose performance is closely tied to the economy, such as General Electric Co., rose after the data.
GE shot up 2.8 per cent to US$37.24 and ranked as S&P 500's biggest advancer as momentum carried it through technical levels, pushing the stock to a two-year high.
GE was among the biggest contributors to the Dow's rise was was Honeywell International Inc., up 2.9 per cent at US$43.91. Honeywell's products range from cockpit electronics to temperature-management systems for buildings.
Oil shares fell, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange's Oil Index declined 1 per cent, falling back from the lifetime high reached the day before. The index surged to the new record on Thursday as shares of major components including Exxon Mobil Corp., rose to their highest levels ever. Exxon was down 1.2 per cent at US$77.75 on Friday.
- REUTERS
