US: Stocks end higher ahead of holiday weekend

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks finished modestly higher on Friday, shrugging off data showing increased inflation following solid earnings from Salesforce and others.

A key US inflation index climbed 3.6 per cent in April compared to the same month in 2020, according to government data, the largest jump since September 2008.

The rise comes as economists debate whether government stimulus and loose Federal Reserve policy will cause the world's largest economy to overheat.

The Fed has pledged to maintain low lending rates and its massive bond-buying programme until inflation is holding steady above 2 per cent and employment fully recovers.

"It really does come down to when the market thinks the Fed is going to taper" asset purchases, said Peter Hanks, strategist at IG, a trading company.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended with a 0.2 per cent gain at 34,529.45.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent to finish at 4,204.11, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.1 per cent to 13,748.74.

All three major indices finished with gains for the week. Markets will be closed on Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

Among individual companies, Dow member Salesforce jumped 5.5 per cent after the cloud computing company reported higher earnings on a 23 per cent rise in revenues to US$6 billion.

Chief executive Marc Benioff pointed to "incredible momentum throughout our core business."

Boeing fell 1.5 per cent as it again halted deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner planes as it works to address questions from regulators.

The questions concern the inspection method for new planes following production problems that led to an earlier pause in deliveries.

AFP