U.S. stocks opened slightly up Wednesday as investors parsed fresh data on inflation in August. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
was trading 0.2% higher soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500
SPX,
edged up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
rose 0.2%, according to FactSet data, at last check.
Inflation rose 0.6% in August, as measured by the consumer-price index, according to a report Wednesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was in line with forecasts from economists polled by the Wall Street Journal, although so-called core inflation came in slightly hotter than anticipated in August. Core CPI, which excludes energy and food prices, increased 0.3% last month.
Over the past year core CPI climbed 4.3%, as forecast, while easing from a year-over-year rate of 4.7% in July. Headline inflation increased 3.7% in the 12 months through August, from 3.2% in the year through July.
