NEW YORK, New York – A report that the U.S. consumer price index hit an annualized 6.8 percent, the highest level in 39-years failed to deter stock investors on Friday.

The CPI rose 0.8 percent last month.

U.S. stocks surprisingly surged, and equally surprisingly, the U.S. dollar dipped.

The Dow Jones industrials advanced 216.30 points or 0.60 percent to 35,770.99.

The tech-laden Nasdaq Composite strengthened 111.13 points or 0.73 percent to 15,630.60.

The Standard and Poor’s 500 added 44.57 points or 0.95 percent to 4,712.05.

The euro crept up to 1.1317 by the New York close Friday. The British pound was a rad stronger at 1.3269. The Japanese yen was little changed at 113.42. The Swiss franc firmed to 0.9207.

The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 1.2721. The Australian and New Zealand dollars too were little changed at 0.7172 and 0.6797 respectively.

On overseas markets, the Dax in Germany dipped 0.10 percent. The Cac 40 in Paris declined 0.24 percent. The FTSE 100 in London dropped 0.40 percent.

On Asian markets, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo did worst, shedding 287.70 points or 1.00 percent to 24,437.77.

The Australian All Ordinaries slid 21.50 points or 0.28 percent to 7,667.90.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 259.14 points or 1.07 percent to close Friday at 23,995.72.

China’s Shanghai Composite gave up 6.69 points or 0.18 percent to 3,665.35.