U.S. stocks traded higher midway through trading, with the Dow Jones index gaining around 250 points on Friday.

The Dow traded up 0.50% to 49,701.48 while the NASDAQ rose 0.41% to 22,690.60. The S&P 500 also rose, gaining, 0.61% to 6,874.47.

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Leading and Lagging Sectors

Utilities shares gained by 2% on Friday.

In trading on Friday, financial stocks fell by 0.3%.

Top Headline

Price pressures in the U.S. eased at the start of 2026, with the annual rate of consumer-price inflation slowing from 2.7% in December to 2.4% in January.

The reading was below economist expectations of 2.5% and marked the lowest inflation print since May 2025.

On a monthly basis, headline CPI rose 0.2%, slightly below both the prior reading and consensus estimates of 0.3%.

Equities Trading UP

Moolec Science SA ( MLEC ) shares shot up 70% to $8.67 after the company announced results from the crushing process of its U.S. GLASO1 safflower platform.

Shares of Corsair Gaming, Inc. ( CRSR ) got a boost, surging 66% to $7.60 after the company reported better-than-expected quarterly financial results.

Tri Pointe Homes Inc ( TPH ) shares were also up, gaining 27% to $46.36 after the company announced it will be acquired by Sumitomo Forestry.

Equities Trading DOWN

Dauch Corp ( DCH ) shares dropped 23% to $6.51 following fourth-quarter results.

Shares of Pinterest Inc ( PINS ) were down 21% to $14.67 after the company reported worse-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results and issued first-quarter sales guidance below estimates

Alliance Entertainment Holding Corp ( AENT ) was down, falling 20% to $5.14 fter the company reported worse-than-expected quarterly financial results.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded down 0.2% to $62.73 while gold traded up 1.5% at $5,023.90.

Silver traded up 2.5% to $77.605 on Friday, while copper fell 0.5% to $5.7590.

Euro zone

European shares were mostly lower today. The eurozone's STOXX 600 fell 0.24%, while Spain's IBEX 35 Index fell 1.29%. London's FTSE 100 gained 0.22%, Germany's DAX fell 0.43% and France's CAC 40 dipped 0.38% during the session.

Asia Pacific Markets

Asian markets closed lower on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei falling 1.21%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index falling 1.72%, China's Shanghai Composite dipping 1.26% and India's BSE Sensex declining 1.25%.

Economics

The annual inflation rate eased to 2.4% in January, recording its lowest level since May, compared to 2.7% in the previous month and down from market estimates of 2.5%.

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