Markets post modest gains - UPI.com NEW YORK, May 15 (UPI) -- U.S. markets opened modestly higher Tuesday with investors looking at a slew of economic reports. The U.S. consumer price index slowed inflation slowing in April. On an annual basis, prices are up 2.3 percent, a slower pace than March when the annual inflation rate stood at 2.7 percent. Retail sales rose 0.1 percent in April from March, the government said. A month earlier, retail was up 0.7 percent. Eurostat, the statistical division of the European Commission, said the gross domestic product for the 17-member eurozone was flat in the first quarter, but up 0.1 percent in the 27-member European Union. In midmorning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 18.88 points or 0.15 percent to 12,714.23. The Nasdaq composite index added 16.29 points or 0.56 percent to 2,918.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 2.46 points or 0.18 percent to 1,340.81. The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 6/32 to yield 1.793 percent. The euro fell to $1.2785 from Monday's $1.2824. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 80.08 yen from Monday's 79.85 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.81 percent, 73.10, to 8,900.74.