12:08 PM EST, 02/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rose in midday trading on Friday after inflation eased in January.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 22,672.4, the S&P 500 climbed 0.6% to 6,870.3, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.4% to 49,663.4.

Utilities, health care, industrials, and materials led the gainers. Communication services and financials were among the trio of decliners.

In economic news, the consumer price index rose 0.2% in January, compared with a Bloomberg-polled consensus that called for the month-on-month pace to remain unchanged at 0.3%. Annually, inflation cooled to 2.4% last month, the lowest level since June, from December's 2.7% and versus the 2.5% consensus.

Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, accelerated to 0.3% last month from 0.2% in December, in line with expectations. The annual core measure eased to 2.5% - the lowest level since March 2021 - from 2.6%, as expected.

Most US Treasury yields fell, with the two-year down 5.8 basis points to 3.41% and the 10-year lower by 5.2 basis points to 4.05%.