US stocks climb as economic optimism overshadows rise in inflation

• US stocks trade higher on Friday as investors shrug off fresh data showing a rise in inflation.
• The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index gained 0.6% in April and 3.6% year-over-year as American spending rebounded.
• "This report puts the Fed in a really good place, inflation is up, but real yields are still low," an expert said.

US stocks trade higher on Friday as investors shrug off fresh data showing a surge in inflation.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index - a key measure of domestic inflation - gained 0.6% through April, the Commerce Department announced Friday, as American spending rebounded.

The jump is the largest single-month gain since 2008, in line with the median estimate of a 0.6% increase from economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The PCE index also notched a 3.6% year-over-year gain, surpassing the median estimate of 3.5%

"This report puts the Fed in a really good place, inflation is up, but real yields are still low," Jamie Cox, managing partner for Harris Financial Group, said in a statement. "This is basically a transitory sweet spot."

US stocks closed up Thursday, with the Dow Jones leading the S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite higher. The move came after weekly jobless claims fell to a fresh post-pandemic low, at 406,000.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly at the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,212.45, up 0.28%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 34,606.47, up 0.41% (141.83 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 13,782.14, up 0.33%

Shares of AMC resumed their blistering rally in early Friday trading, jumping more than 10% to approach $30 - the highest price in years. As of Friday, AMC has been on a five-day hot streak amid hype from retail traders on Twitter and Reddit, and short-sellers are taking a major hit.

In the digital asset space, trading platform eToro added two decentralized finance tokens, Aave and Yearn.Finance YFI, to its trading offering this week, alongside crypto tokens Compound COMP and Decentraland MANA. DeFi has gained traction amongst crypto investors in recent weeks after having been long overlooked on account of its complex nature.

Meanwhile, the newly launched Crypto Council for Innovation, an industry group that includes heavyweights such as Square, Fidelity, Coinbase, and Paradigm, is looking for a new boss, DealBook first reported Friday. The news of CCI's hunt for new leadership comes as authorities are mulling ways to increase oversight of crypto.

Oil prices were higher. West Texas Intermediate crude jumped as much as 0.70%, to $67.32 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 0.46%, to $69.78 per barrel.

Gold fell as much as 0.23%%, to $1,893.64 per ounce.