U.S. stocks open higher after Fed’s preferred inflation gauge rose less than expected

U.S. stocks opened higher after fresh data showed inflation rose in February less than expected on a year-over-year basis. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+1.26%
was up 0.4% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500
SPX,
+1.44%
gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
+1.74%
advanced 0.2%, according to FactSet data, at last check. The Bureau of Economic Analysis said Friday that the personal-consumption-expenditures price index increased 0.3% in February, with the year-over-year rate of inflation slowing to 5% from 5.3% in January. Core PCE data, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge that excludes energy and food prices, rose 0.3% last month for a year-over year rate of 4.6%. That’s down from the 4.7% rise seen over the 12 months through January and slightly lower than forecasts from economists polled by the Wall Street Journal.