The US markets ended in green on Friday with Nasdaq settling higher by over 260 points following the release of a closely watched report on consumer price inflation that increased confidence the Federal Reserve will continue cutting interest rates in the coming months. The Labor Department said its consumer price index rose by 0.3 percent in September after climbing by 0.4 percent in August. Street had expected consumer prices to rise by another 0.4 percent. The report also said the annual rate of growth by consumer prices ticked up to 3.0 percent in September from 2.9 percent in August, although that was slower than the 3.1 percent jump expected by street.

Excluding food and energy prices, the core consumer price index crept up by 0.2 percent in September after rising by 0.3 percent in August. Core consumer prices were expected to increase by another 0.3 percent. The Labor Department also said the annual rate of growth by core consumer prices slowed to 3.0 percent in September from 3.1 percent August. Street had expected the pace of growth to remain unchanged. On the sectoral front, Computer hardware stocks extended the rally seen during the previous session, with the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index surging by 3.2 percent to a new record closing high. Substantial strength was also visible among banking stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent jump by the KBW Bank Index.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 472.51 points or 1.01 percent to 47,207.12, Nasdaq surged 263.07 points or 1.15 percent to 23,204.87 and S&P 500 gained 53.25 points or 0.79 percent to 6,791.69.