U.S. stocks open mixed, with Dow up as investors assess inflation reading

U.S. stocks opened mixed Friday after a reading from the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge showed that the cost of living is still running hot. The blue-chip gauge Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 gained 0.1% and technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped less than 0.1%, according to FactSet data, at last check. U.S. inflation measured by the personal-expenditures-consumption index rose 0.3% in September for an unchanged annual rate of 6.2%, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis report Friday. Core PCE, which excludes energy and food prices, climbed 0.5% last month, bringing its annual rate to 5.1%, from 4.9% in August.

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