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The Federal Reserve's favored inflation gauge slowed sharply last month, an encouraging sign in the Fed's yearlong effort to cool price pressures through steadily higher interest rates.
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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 was up 0.4% soon after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 SPX gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite COMP 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.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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Groupon Inc. GRPN is changing up its leadership, with Dusan Senkypl, the co-founder of Pale Fire Capital and a member of Groupon's board, taking on the role of interim chief executive effective immediately. He replaces Kedar Deshpande, who has stepped down from his CEO and director posts but plans to advise the company for 60 days to help with its transition. "Since he joined the Board, Dusan has been very engaged as a director, providing important oversight on Groupon's strategy and strengths and helping the company identify areas in need of improvement," Chairman Ted Leonsis said in a Friday morning release. "Given this, we believe that he will seamlessly transition into this new leadership role and help the company execute against and continue to refine the supply-led transformation strategy we announced during our fourth quarter earnings call." Groupon shares were ahead more than 6% in premarket trading Friday. The stock has tumbled 61% so far this year as the S&P 500 SPX has advanced more than 5%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
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