Stock Market Today: Stocks Rise as Markets Watch for Next ECB Move

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stocks gained in early trading Friday on speculation that some form of additional easing will be announced by the European Central Bank at its September meeting next Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was higher by 0.15% to 17,105.61. The S&P 500 was ahead by 0.23% to 2,001.22. The Nasdaq was up 0.32% to 4,572.45. Traders bet on renewed economic stimulus from the ECB in the coming weeks following weaker eurozone data. A month-on-month fall of 1.4% in German retail sales in July and continuing falls in Spain, coupled with wholesale price declines in France for industrial and food products, all point to a further decline in inflation. The flash reading of 0.3% for the eurozone consumer price index from Eurostat seemed to confirm that trend. "If the ECB does refer to quantitative easing, that means more liquidity in the world markets as well. In retrospect we benefit from that in terms of easy money," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. Read More: Aug. 29 Premarket Briefing: 10 Things You Should Know U.S. personal income rose 0.2% in July, slightly less than the consensus 0.3%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported before the market open. Spending fell 0.1%. Other data Friday will include Chicago PMI for August at 9:45 a.m. and the final reading on the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for August at 9:55 a.m. The S&P is now on track for its biggest monthly gain since February, in many ways a surprise considering the escalation of geopolitical concerns the market was focused on at the beginning of the month. "All of a sudden, those concerns were placed on the sidelines as the economic data continued to show the economy improving. It certainly turned out to be a heck of a lot better than we expected," Cardillo remarked. U.S. stocks fell Thursday as investors fretted about renewed geopolitical risks, which also fed into concerns that there have been increased signs of deflationary spiral dangers coming out of Europe. Read More: European Stocks Drift Higher as Traders Bet on Renewed Stimulus In individual corporate news Friday, Big Lots was down 2.33% to $46.10 after reporting slightly lower-than-expected second-quarter revenue results. Same-store sales increased 1.7%, in the middle of its guidance of 1% to 3%. Google is building a fleet of drones to speed up package delivery. Shares were up 0.48% to $583.11. Apple is working with Dutch chipmaker NXP to add secure short-range wireless technology into the next iPhone, enabling new pay-by-touch capabilities, the Financial Times reported. Shares were up 0.56% to $102.82. The SPDR Gold Trust was down 0.18% to $123.78. The United States Oil Fund was up 0.54% to $35.51. Read More: Stock Market Today: Ukraine-Russia Overshadows Good U.S. Data --By Andrea Tse in New York Follow @AndreaTTse

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