Investors shrug off jump in CPI and instead focus on deal making talk at the end of a tough week on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average, the broader Standard & Poor's
500 index and the Nasdaq composite all gained in the early going.
Consumer inflation up. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.6% in May
after rising 0.2% in April, reflecting the spike in oil and gas prices
and bringing the annual rate to 4.2%. Economists thought it would rise
0.5%.
So-called "core" CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices,
rose 0.2% in the month, as expected, after rising 0.1% in April.
Yahoo-Google. Yahoo remained in focus Friday on news that it has partnered with Google on an online advertising deal.
Oil prices retreat: U.S. light crude oil for July delivery fell $1.13 to $135.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.