Sawt Falasteen - Earnings help stocks resist despite sticky inflation

Wall Street opened mostly higher, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq rising 1.0 percent and the S&P 500 also rising. The blue-chip Dow opened flat before sliding lower.

Both Amazon and Intel beat expectations in earnings reports released after the close of trading on Thursday.

Shares in Amazon climbed 5.6 percent at the opening bell on Friday, and shares in Intel jumped 8.2 percent.

Investors have been keenly watching how companies take advantage of artificial intelligence while navigating high interest rates.

Meanwhile the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation, came in unchanged at 3.4 percent in September on an annual basis. Prices rose by 0.4 percent from August, the same rate as in August.

The figures "had a sticky feel to them, meaning they lacked a stronger trend of disinflation", said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"That is apt to keep the Fed in a more hawkish mindset... the Fed won't be thinking about a rate cut anytime soon," he said.

The inflation data comes after figures released Thursday showed that the US economy had its best growth since late 2021 during the third quarter.

"We're in a bull market until proven otherwise for one simple reason: most data indicates we're far away from a recession," said Callie Cox at eToro.

The data come ahead of the Fed's monetary policy decision next week, with expectations it will hold interest rates steady again given high inflation and the resilient US economy.

Officials have lined up in recent months to say that while there might not be any more cuts, rates could be kept at two-decade highs for an extended period.

Asian equity markets rose on the strong US tech earnings, but European stocks were lower in afternoon trade as a number of companies failed to meet earnings expectations.

The showing comes at the end of a rollercoaster week for equities, but the Middle East crisis continued to cast a shadow as Israel said ground forces had raided central Gaza for a second day.

Oil prices rallied more than two percent before paring gains, recovering much of their losses from Thursday, as traders tracked developments in the Israel-Hamas war amid concerns it could draw in other countries.

The drop came even after the Israeli military reported Friday more attacks by ground forces, which followed news that tanks and infantry had entered Gaza in a "targeted raid" before withdrawing to home soil.

Aircraft also struck targets in Lebanon late Wednesday in retaliation for a missile launch.

Fears of a region-wide conflict were stoked after Iran's foreign minister warned the United States it would not go unaffected if the hostilities spread.

- Key figures around 1330 GMT -

New York - Dow: FLAT at 32,785.09 points

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,346.83

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 14,790.36

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.5 percent at 6,855.82

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 4,047.34

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.3 percent at 30,991.69 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.1 percent at 17,398.73 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.0 percent at 3,017.78 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0582 from $1.0563 on Thursday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 149.72 yen from 150.43 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2150 from $1.2129

Euro/pound: FLAT at 87.08 pence from 87.08 pence

Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.3 percent at $89.07 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.5 percent at $84.49 per barrel

burs-rl/js

U.AlSharif--SF-PST