DJIA up 593.21 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 26 Jul - US shares were trading higher at midday after the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge came in low, raising hopes for an interest rate cut as early as September.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index rose just 0.1% in June from the previous month and was up 2.5% on the year compared to last month's 2.6% rise. The core PCE index, stripping out volatile food and energy, rose 2.6%, slightly above expectations but its slowest annual increase in more than three years.

The data come after encouraging inflation reports indicating pricing pressure is easing and trending lower.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said earlier this month recent cooling price data has bolstered his confidence inflation is moving sustainably towards the central bank's target level of 2%.

The CME Group's FedWatch Tool is currently pricing in a chance of 100% for a Fed rate cut at its September meeting.

Also on the data front, US consumer sentiment fell to 66.4 in July from 68.2 in June, while expectations were for a decline to 66.0.

On the stocks front, shares in chip giant Nvidia were up 0.6%, bouncing back from two days of losses that undermined markets. Disappointing results from Tesla and Alphabet earlier this week sparked fears more big tech names could underwhelm in this earnings season amid mounting worries the AI frenzy underpinning this year's rally may have gone too far.

At 1616 GMT, the Dow Jones was gaining 593.21 points, or 1.49%, at 40,528.28 points.

The S&P 500 was 46.60 points, or 0.86%, higher at 5,445.82 points.

The Nasdaq was up 111.24 points, or 0.68%, at 17,295.41 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 26-07-24 17:24:31 (0565) 5 NNNN