US stocks close almost flat before Fed's preferred inflation indicator

​​​​​​​By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stock exchanges closed almost flat on Thursday, the day before the announcement of Federal Reserve's preferred inflation indicator.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 36 points, or 0.09%, to finish the session at 39,164. The S&P 500 rose almost five points, or 0.09%, to 5,482.

The Nasdaq, meanwhile, increased 53 points, or 0.3%, to 17,858.

The core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index will be released at 8.30 a.m. EDT on Friday before market opening, which investors will closely watch to get hints about when the Fed would start lowering interest rates this year.

The index in April monthly rose 0.2% and annually increased 2.8%, while the May expectations stand at 0.1% and 2.6%, respectively.

The VIX volatility index, also known as the fear index, lost 2.5% to 12.25. The 10-year US Treasury yield fell 0.7% to 4.297%.

The dollar index shed 0.13% to 105.97, while the euro added 0.22% to $1.0703 against the greenback.

Precious metals were in the green, with gold rising 1.2% to $2,326 per ounce and silver increasing 0.7% to $28.97.

Oil prices were up around 1.1%, with global benchmark Brent crude at $85.34 and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate at $81.88.