Nasdaq up 0.30% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - New York, 14 Aug - US shares opened higher after key consumer price data came in cooler than expected, boosting hopes of an interest rate cut next month.

Consumer prices rose 2.9% in July compared to the same month last year, above a consensus for 3.0%. From last month, prices rose 0.2% to match expectations while core CPI prices, stripping out volatile energy and food, also met expectations.

The data come after a wholesale inflation report yesterday that confirmed the slowdown trend and sent Wall Street to one of its best days this year.

With inflation slowing towards the Federal Reserve's 2% target, the market is overwhelmingly pricing in a first interest rate cut in September and possibly more to come before year end.

The latest BofA Global Fund Manager Survey released this week showed 93% of professional investors thought short-term rates would be lower in a year.

The Fed is looking to steer inflation towards its target without overly impacting economic growth. Recent GDP data indicated the US economy is slowing faster than expected, raising the spectre of a possible recession.

On the stocks front, shares in Kellanova jumped 7% in early trade after Mars announced a deal worth 35.9 billion dollars to acquire the foodmaker. Alphabet was down nearly 2% following reports the Justice Department is mulling a possible breakup of Google while Southwest Airlines rose after activist investor Elliott Investment Management said it plans to launch a proxy battle.

Cisco Systems is due to report its quarterly earnings after the closing bell.

Just after the opening bell the Dow Jones was unchanged at 39,763.96, the S&P 500 was up 8.62 points, or 0.16%, at 5,443.05 while the Nasdaq was up 51.44 points, or 0.30%, at 17,239.05.

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(RADIOCOR) 14-08-24 15:54:47 (0380) 5 NNNN