US stocks trade mixed as the Fed's preferred inflation gauge shows further cooling

• US stocks opened mixed on Friday as the Fed's preferred inflation gauge showed more cooling. 
• Core PCE increased in December by 4.4% from a year ago, down from November's annual pace of 4.7% and in line with forecasts.
• The data comes ahead of the Fed's policy meeting next week.

US stocks opened mixed on Friday, as the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge showed more cooling. 

The personal consumption expenditures index was up 5% year over year in December. The core PCE, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased by 4.4%, down from November's annual pace of 4.7% and in line with forecasts.

Households also showed signs of cutting back spending last month, and investors are hopeful that the dimming economic picture means the central bank can be more inclined to slow rate hikes further at the next policy meeting on January 31 and February 1. 

Here's where US indexes stood at the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,055.89, down 0.11%
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 33,972.75, up 0.07% (23.34 points)
• Nasdaq Composite: 11,506.04, down 0.06%

Here's what else happened today:

• FTX creditors could include big Wall Street names like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase Wells Fargo. 
• Gary Black said investors don't pay much attention to Elon Musk's take on the economy. 
• Goldman Sach's predicted oil prices could reach $100 per barrel. 

In commodities, bonds and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 0.80% to $81.71 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, climbed 0.91% to $88.31.
• Gold fell 0.32% to $1,922.89 per ounce.
• The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed 5.7 basis points to 3.542%.
• Bitcoin fell 0.29% to $22,919.03.