Wall Street trades higher on economic reports

Wall Street traded higher Friday morning on a series of economic reports.

The Labor Department reported that its Producer Price Index had risen to 0.7 percent in April, meeting Wall Street expectations, but was lower than the March reading of 1.0 percent.

Inflation at wholesale level eased slightly as wholesale prices rose by 0.7 percent last month, down slightly from a 1 percent jump in March.

The core Producer Price Index was unchanged for the second month in a row, in line with expectations.

However, the Commerce Department said retail sales unexpectedly fell in April.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 34.45 to 13,249.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 4.62 at 1,496.09, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.09, to 2,539.83.

Source: Xinhua