US stocks lifted by earnings from Google, Microsoft

WASHINGTON (AFP): Wall Street stocks rose early Friday following strong results from tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet that offset worries about inflation data.

Google parent Alphabet charged 10 percent higher after announcing a dividend and the authorization of $70 billion in share buybacks. Microsoft rose 2.7 percent after reporting a 20 percent jump in quarterly profits to $21.9 billion.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2 percent at 38,165.92.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.7 percent to 5,085.47, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.4 percent to 15,833.59.

The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in March, up 0.2 percentage points from a month earlier.

The benchmark is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve, which has indicated it could keep interest high for longer if inflation remains elevated.

“The key takeaway from the report is the recognition that progress on inflation has stalled,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare. “Therefore, market participants should continue to expect the Fed to stall on any rate cut.”

However, early trading Friday suggested “there is a bit of relief that the inflation data weren’t worse than feared,” O’Hare added.