Wall Street's main indexes opened higher on Thursday as a key inflation metric came in line with estimates, raising hopes of interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve in the first half of the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64.73 points, or 0.17%, at the open to 39,013.75.

The S&P 500 opened higher by 15.60 points, or 0.31%, at 5,085.36, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 111.60 points, or 0.70%, to 16,059.34 at the opening bell.

At the beginning of this year, traders were betting on March as the starting point for the Fed's easing cycle.

"A higher-than-anticipated (personal consumption expenditures, PCE) reading could put the final nail in the coffin of the idea of a pivot to rate cuts before the summer," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould wrote in a note.

An inflation gauge favored by the Federal Reserve increased in January, the latest sign that the slowdown in U.S. consumer price increases is occurring unevenly from month to month.

The government reported Thursday that prices rose 0.3% from December to January, up from 0.1% in the previous month. But in a more encouraging sign, prices were up just 2.4% from a year earlier, down from a 2.6% annual pace in December and the smallest such increase in nearly three years.

Equities have struggled to make headway this week ahead of the PCE data, given lack of any major market-moving catalysts.

Still, all three major Wall Street indexes are on track for their fourth straight monthly advance, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq in the lead, thanks to robust quarterly earnings and a stellar rally driven by optimism around artificial intelligence (AI).

Meanwhile, Democratic and Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday announced they had reached a deal that could avert government shutdowns on Saturday.

Salesforce shed 1.8% in premarket trading after projecting annual revenue below analysts' estimates, while Snowflake slumped 22.9% after the cloud data analytics company forecast first-quarter product revenue below Wall Street estimates.

Shares of Paramount Global climbed 4.7% as the media conglomerate posted a surprise profit on streaming gains.

Boeing slipped 1% after a report said the U.S. Department of Justice is scrutinizing the planemaker's door plug blowout last month.

AMC Entertainment dropped 8.2% after the theater chain posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on higher distribution costs for Taylor Swift and Beyonce concert movies.

WW International slumped 23.7% after the weight-loss services firm said director Oprah Winfrey decided not to stand for re-election at the company's upcoming annual shareholder meeting.