(New York) The New York Stock Exchange climbed on Friday, the NASDAQ and the S

Around 10:10 a.m., the Dow Jones index was up 0.69%, the tech-heavy NASDAQ was up 0.88% and the S

Inflation stalled as expected in May at 2.6% over one year, after 2.7% in April, according to the PCE index, favored by the American central bank (Fed), and published Friday by the department Trade.

Over a month, prices remained the same, with the inflation rate being zero, compared to 0.3% the previous month.  

The annual change in PCE “decelerated to its slowest pace since 2021 and is within reach of the Fed’s 2% target,” commented Rubeela Farooqi, chief economist for High Frequency Economics.  

Wall Street remained virtually frozen on Thursday, waiting for confirmation that May inflation is on the downward slope.

The Dow Jones had nibbled 0.09% to 39,164.06 points and the broader S index

The NASDAQ, which is only a breath away from its absolute closing record, concluded up 0.30% at 17,858.68 points.

Commenting on the welcome inflation figure, Paul Asworth, economist at Capital Economics, said: “The return to the previous disinflationary trend and the renewed weakness in activity are both consistent with a Fed rate cut as early as September.”

The Fed warned, during its last meeting in mid-June, that it would need to observe several months of falling inflation for the rate reduction to be launched.

In the bond market, ten-year yields fell to 4.26% from 4.28%.

On the consumption side, household spending grew less quickly (0.2%) than their income (0.5%) in May.

“Personal spending, savings and inflation are normalizing after a long period of exuberant spending and high inflation that was boosted by drawing on savings made during the pandemic,” commented Kathy Bostjancic, economist for Nationwide .  

“We expect that the welcome slowdown in inflation and less sustained economic activity will lead the Fed to cut interest rates starting in September and lower them by 50 points by the end of the year,” added the economist.

On the value front, semiconductors, the NASDAQ’s favorite sector with Nvidia (2.34% around 10:10 a.m.) took the lead. AMD gained 1.91%, Micron Technology 1.01%, Broadcom 1.31% and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which is approaching the $1,000 billion valuation mark on the stock market, gained 2.21%.

Nike stock fell 18% after mixed fourth-quarter results. At $12.6 billion, quarterly sales disappointed, notably with poor performance in China.

The distributor Foot Locker lost 2.31%.

Pharmacy chain Walgreens was in demand (2.13%) after plunging more than 22% the day before. The chain missed its target for its quarterly results and lowered its annual objectives, partly due to slowing activity in the United States.

The DJT stock of Donald Trump’s social network, Trump Media and Technology Group, was trading 1.66% in the green after a televised debate with President Joe Biden that appeared to have turned to Donald Trump’s advantage.

Semiconductor company Infinera soared 17.59% to $6.18 after Finland’s Nokia announced the takeover of the company in a deal valued at $2.3 billion.