The New York Stock Exchange opened higher on Friday following the announcement of inflation figures in line with expectations, while solid corporate results supported the technology sector.

At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones advanced 0.5% to 38,209.5 points, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.2% to 15,954.4 points.209.5 points, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.2% to 15,954.4 points.

The much-anticipated PCE consumer price index slowed in March, arguing in favor of a Federal Reserve rate cut in September.

Excluding food and energy, core prices rose by 0.3% month-on-month, and by 2.8% year-on-year, after 2.9% in February.

Investors were particularly impressed by the fact that these figures were in line with their expectations, and therefore contained no unpleasant surprises, whereas inflation figures have tended to exceed expectations of late.

This last point, which is considered reassuring, is helping to push down Treasury yields, whose rise had previously been sustained by expectations of later-than-expected Fed rate cuts.

The yield on 10-year bonds, which had reached its highest level in over six months yesterday at 4.73%, thus fell back to 4.65%.

In addition to this welcome easing in sovereign debt, a series of better-than-expected corporate results in the technology sector also contributed to the decline.

Microsoft gained more than 2% after posting a much better-than-expected net profit for the first quarter, driven by the cloud and a 31% jump in Azure sales.

Alphabet, Google's parent company, soared by almost 10%, as investors were seduced by the company's better-than-expected accounts, but above all by the payment of the first dividend in its history and the announcement of a massive share buyback plan.

These solid performances enabled all the "Magnificent Seven" - including Amazon (+2%) and Nvidia (+1.4%) - to get back on track.

Among stocks, Chevron (-1%) and ExxonMobil (-4%) failed to benefit from the rebound in oil prices following the publication of lacklustre quarterly results.

US light crude is currently up 0.1% at $83.6 a barrel.

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