Sawt Falasteen - Stocks advance with focus on central banks, tech

Equity markets, particularly on Wall Street, have come under pressure in recent weeks amid questions about when, if ever, investors will see returns on the colossal amounts of cash pumped into artificial intelligence.

But blockbuster earnings from chip firm Micron Technology helped soothe nerves over a tech bubble and the tech-heavy Nasdaq close with a gain of 1.4 percent on Thursday.

The Nasdaq added 0.5 percent as trading got underway Friday. Shares in Micron Technology rose by 4.3 percent.

Shares in the so-called Magnificent Seven tech stocks, which includes AI chip maker Nvidia and Google parent company Alphabet, gained 0.3 percent overall.

"Stocks in the tech sector have been boosted by yesterday's bumper earnings from Micron," noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at trading group Scope Markets.

"As we close out a week that has seen a huge amount of data and central bank announcements, there is an expectation that we start to see volumes and volatility ease off from here."

- Russia cuts key interest rate -

However, Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, said trading volume should be huge today driven by the expiration of options.

"Today is a quadruple witching expiration day, which involves the expiration of stock index futures, single-stock futures, stock index options, and single-stock options," he said.

As traders make purchases or sales to cover options volatility could spike.

"Participants are also waiting to see if yesterday's AI-related bounce following Micron's (MU) stellar report has legs," added O'Hare.

Below-forecast US inflation data Thursday also boosted hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates next month.

The yen fell against the dollar on profit-taking after the Bank of Japan on Friday hiked, as expected, its own borrowing costs to a three-decade high, hours after data showed prices had held steady.

Russia's central bank said it was cutting its benchmark interest rate to 16 percent as the country's economy sags under the financial burden of the Ukraine offensive and Western sanctions.

The Bank of England cut rates Thursday, when the European Central Bank left eurozone borrowing costs unchanged.

Germany's central bank on Friday predicted a slower recovery for Europe's biggest economy following three years of stagnation.

Shares in Oracle gained more than five percent as trading got underway in New York after TikTok said it has signed a joint venture deal with investors that would allow the company to maintain operations in the United States.

The deal will see Oracle take a 15-percent stake in the joint venture, with private equity fund Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, an Emirati state-owned investment fund for artificial intelligence technologies.

- Key figures at around 1330 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 48,099.15 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 6,800.44

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 23,124.16

London - FTSE 100: UP less than 0.1 percent at 9,844.71

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN less than 0.1 percent at 8,145.04

Frankfurt - DAX: UP percent at 24,239.34

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 percent at 49,507.21 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 25,690.53 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,890.45 (close)

Dollar/yen: UP at 157.23 yen from 155.63 yen on Thursday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1733 from $1.1721

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3379 from $1.3378

Euro/pound: UP at 87.70 pence from 87.62 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $60.21 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.7 percent at $56.39 per barrel

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Y.Shaath--SF-PST