Wall Street pointed higher early Friday as more strong earnings results trickled in along with a closely-watched report from the U.S. government showing that inflation ticked higher. Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.

U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, but off their lows of the day, with the Federal Reserve holding interest rates steady as expected and Fed Chair Jerome Powell offering soothing comments for investors.

Equity markets diverged Wednesday as attention turned away from recent turbulence in tech stocks to the outlook for interest rates, with the Fed and the ECB both holding their first