DJIA up 171.34 points (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 12 Jun - US shares were trading higher at midday as investors cheered cooler-than-expected inflation data ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest decision on interest rates.

The Consumer Price Index for May came in unchanged from the previous month and rose 3.3% on the year, both slower than expected. Core inflation, stripping out volatile food and energy, followed suite growing 0.2% on the month and 3.4% on the year, below forecasts of 0.3% and 3.5% respectively.

The data comes hours before the Federal Reserve unveils its latest decision on monetary policy as its 2-day meeting wraps up.

Stubborn inflation has prompted the Fed to put back the timetable for rate cuts and prompted traders to recalculate their expectations for the number of cuts this year.

The Fed is widely expected to keep its key rates steady but most eyes will be on its so-called 'dot plot' - a chart updated on a quarterly basis giving each Fed member's prediction on the trajectory of the federal funds rate.

Fed officials have repeatedly said they will not contemplate a monetary pivot until there is hard proof that inflation is firmly under control and falling towards its 2% target.

On the stocks front shares in Oracle were up 11.3% on the software maker's cloud deals with Google and OpenAI and comments it expects demand to keep accelerating.

At 1610 GMT, the Dow Jones was up 171.34 points, or 0.44%, at f38,918.76 points.

The S&P 500 was 62.62 points, or 1.16%, higher 5,437.94 points.

The Nasdaq was gaining 315.34 points, or 1.82%, at 17,659.26 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 12-06-24 17:21:09 (0539) 5 NNNN