Dow Jones, S&P 500 Hover Near Record Highs; Wall Street Heads For Solid Weekly Gains

US stocks opened marginally higher on Friday to extend gains as new data indicated further progress in lowering inflation.

The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.36%, or 149.95 points, to 42,328.42, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.2% to tread near 18,190. The S&P 500 advanced 0.12% to 5,752.38.

All three major indexes are up for the week, with the S&P 500 gaining nearly 1% and the Dow expected to rise about 0.5%. The Nasdaq is on track for an approximate 1.5% increase week-to-date.

Among major companies, the shares of Visa were trading over 2% higher, while Alphabet and Home Depot jumped by over 1%.

August's personal consumption expenditures price index rose by 0.1%, aligning with economists' expectations from Dow Jones. Personal consumption expenditure increased at a rate of 2.2% per year, slightly below the forecast of 2.3%.

“Today’s inflation print confirms what Jerome Powell told us last week: inflation is falling, the consumer is strong, and the labor market remains resilient,” Damian McIntyre, a portfolio manager at Federated Hermes, told Bloomberg.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond was down four basis points to 3.76%.

The US dollar wavered against major currencies. The dollar index was down 0.23% at 100.30.

Spot gold prices fell 0.36% to $2,662.67 an ounce as of 10:04 a.m. EDT.

International benchmark Brent oil dropped 0.49% to $71.25 per barrel.