Stocks Opened Higher, US Consumer Prices Fell

U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday as consumer prices fell by the biggest amount in six years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lately rose 90.46 points, or 0.53%, to 17,159.33. The S&P 500 gained 12.17 points, or 0.62%, to 1,984.91. The Nasdaq Composite added 21.46 points, or 0.47%, to 4,569.29.

U.S. consumer prices recorded their biggest drop in nearly six years in November as gasoline prices tumbled. The Labor Department said on Wednesday its Consumer Price Index fell 0.3 percent last month, the largest decline since December 2008, after being flat in October.

Russia’s ruble stabilized Wednesday after the government said it would sell currency reserves in its desperate fight  to stave off a worsening economic crisis.The finance ministry will begin selling its remaining $7 billion of foreign currency stocks in an attempt to halt the ruble’s crash.

General Mills Inc, the maker of Cheerios cereal and Betty Crocker cake mixes, reaffirmed its full-year forecast and  reported a better-than-expected profit as it cut costs to battle weak sales in the United States. Net income attributable to General Mills fell to $346.1 million, or 56 cents per share, in the second quarter. Revenue fell 3.4 percent to $4.71 billion.

Increased U.S. domestic and international volumes sparked higher quarterly profit at FedEx Corp, the package delivery
company said on Wednesday, but quarterly earnings and its full-year outlook fell short of expectations. FedEx reported
net income of $616 million for the second quarter ended Nov. 30, compared with $500 million a year earlier. Earnings
per share came to $2.14 versus $1.57 in the same quarter last year.