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U.S. stocks raced out of the gate encouraged by signs of tame inflation in new goverment data. MOREINFO: Oil prices fell to around the $124 a barrel area after a mixed U.S. supply report and positive comments out of Iran. Conway Gittens reports from New York. SCRIPT: U.S. stocks raced out of the gate encouraged by signs of tame inflation. On a month-to-month basis the consumer price index showed a smaller-than-expected rise in April. A then temporary drop in gasoline prices offset a spike in other energy costs. Excluding food and energy - the index saw a very small uptick. The data suggests the Federal Reserve can hold rates steady at its next meeting. Oil prices are falling on easing fears of a distillates supply crunch. Inventories for crude products like home heating oil saw a bigger-than-expected build last week. But the rest of the supply picture was mixed. Gasoline supplies saw an unexpected drop. And raw crude inventories rose last week, but the gains were smaller than expected. Meantime, oil prices are also under pressure after Iran said it has no plans to lock in oil exports. Crude oil is trading around the $124 area. Conway Gittens, Reuters