US open: Stocks trade higher as investors digest US CPI data

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Friday as traders digested some key data points.

As of 1520 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.26% at 33,089.77, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.69% to 4,008.71, and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.05% firmer at 11,583.87.

The Dow opened 86.20 points higher on Friday extending gains recorded in previous session after stocks staged a late rally on the back of comments from central banker Raphael Bostic.

Bostic indicated he believes the Fed will be able to maintain interest rate hikes at 25 basis points rather than the half-point increase called for by other policymakers.

Treasury yields were still in focus prior to the open, with the benchmark 10-year note trading slightly lower but still elevated at 4.012% and its two-year counterpart sitting at 4.863%.

More good headlines out of China also gave sentiment a boost early on Friday. However, Xi Jinping's new crackdown on bankers, the Asian superpowers tight relationship with Russia, its deteriorating relationship with the US, and China's changing landscape due to Xi's economic and political policies somewhat overshadowed the positive news.

On the macro front, S&P Global's manufacturing PMI was revised lower in February to 47.3, down from a preliminary reading of 47.8 and short of the previous month's print of 46.9.

Elsewhere, the Institute of Supply Management's non-manufacturing PMI came to 55.1 in February, broadly flat month-on-month and ahead of expectations for a reading of 54.5. Faster increases were seen for new orders, new export orders, and employment.

Elsewhere, Federal Reserve bankers Lorie Logan and Raphael Bostic will deliver speeches at 1600 GMT and 1645 GMT, respectively, while Michelle Bowman will speak at 2000 GMT and Thomas Barkin will deliver comments at 2145 GMT.

No major corporate earnings were scheduled for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Apple Inc. (AAPL) $149.49 2.45%
Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) $49.06 1.09%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $253.77 1.06%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $351.92 0.81%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $99.60 0.69%
Visa Inc. (V) $220.50 0.66%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $187.74 0.62%
American Express Co. (AXP) $176.28 0.54%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $153.23 0.51%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $294.47 0.49%