Stocks were higher in late-morning trading Friday, reversing earlier losses, as the market reacted to tame inflation numbers and comments from a Federal Reserve official.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently was up 1.2%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each gained 1.1%. U.S. stocks closed near unchanged on Thursday after a steep downturn the previous session sparked by news the Federal Reserve expects to slow the pace of interest rate cuts next year amid concerns about inflation.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures index, which is the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, showed Friday that prices edged higher in November, but not as much as economists had predicted. Speaking on CNBC, Chicago Fed President welcome the better-than-expected numbers and said that inflation remains on a path toward the Fed’s 2% annual target.

“I’m hopeful that this suggests that the couple of months of firming (in inflation) were more of a bump than a change in path,” Goolsbee said.

The yield on 10-year Treasurys, which is correlated with expectations about where interest rates are headed, was at 4.51% recently, down from yesterday’s closing level of 4.57%. The yield reached its highest levels since May this week.

Investors are also keeping a close eye on developments in Washington D.C. as lawmakers work to avoid a government shutdown. Adding to the possibility of volatility, Friday is a triple-witching day, which refers to the simultaneous expiration of stock options, index options, and index futures contracts.

Large cap tech stocks were up across the board in recent trading. AI investor favorite Nvidia (NVDA) was up nearly 2%, while Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META) and Tesla (TSLA) also gained.

Among other noteworthy movers, Nike (NKE) shares were down 1% after the athletic apparel maker released its first earnings report under new CEO Elliott Hill, with results that topped expectations but a sluggish outlook. U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO), maker of popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, were down 21% after disappointing trial results for a new obesity shot.

FedEx (FDX) was up about 1% after the shipping giant announced plans to spin off its freight business as a separate public company, overshadowing a lowered full year outlook. The stock had gained as much as 7% in the opening minutes of trading Friday.

Bitcoin was at $97,400 recently, up from an earlier low of around $92,000 but well below the record high of around $108,000 set earlier this week.

Gold futures were up 1.5% at around $2,650 an ounce, while crude oil futures were down 0.5%.