U.S. stocks open modestly higher after PCE report shows prices continued to climb in April

U.S. stock indexes opened modestly higher on Friday despite a stronger-than-expected reading on April inflation, complicating the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to keep raising interest rates at its June meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.80%
was up 50 points, or 0.2%, to 32,832. The S&P 500
SPX,
+0.98%
added 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+1.71%
advanced 0.3%. The core PCE index, the Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, rose 0.4% in April, more than the 0.3% increase that economists had expected. Core inflation strips out volatile food and energy prices. The yearly increase in prices rose to 4.4% from 4.2% in the prior month, also higher than expected.