SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)

[smartone]

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Core consumer prices increased just 0.1% as expected in May, the Commerce Department reported Friday, leaving core inflation within the Federal Reserve's comfort zone for a second straight month.

Core prices - which exclude food and energy costs - are up just 1.9% in the past 12 months, just inside the central bank's unofficial 1% to 2% target range. It's the smallest year-over-year gain in the core personal consumption price index since March 2004.

Core inflation had risen 2% in the year ending in April.