NEW YORK, Jan 18 — Wall Street stocks climbed early today on easing worries about further Federal Reserve moves to aggressively counter inflation following the latest US economic data.

Reports released today showed a drop in retail sales in December and a decline in wholesale prices over the same period.

"There’s growing optimism here that inflation is coming down, that the Fed will be able to pause a tightening cycle fairly soon,” said Oanda’s Edward Moya.

"And I think this is why you’re seeing equities being somewhat supportive here.”

The yield on the 10-year US Treasury note — a proxy for Fed interest rates — fell sharply.

About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 per cent at 33,966.06.

The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.3 per cent to 4,004.28, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.6 per cent to 11,163.63.

Among individual companies, Microsoft advanced 0.2 per cent as it announced it was laying off 10,000 employees in response to macroeconomic conditions.

United Airlines edged up 0.1 per cent after reporting better-than-expected quarterly profits on strong travel demand.

Moderna surged 7.7 per cent after announcing positive interim trial results for its vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults over the age of 60.

Moderna plans to apply for regulatory approval for the vaccine in the US, Europe and other regions in the coming months. — AFP