Wall Street is set to open lower on Friday morning, weighed down by Intel's disappointing outlook, which is penalizing the entire semiconductor sector that has been driving the market since the start of the year.

Just over half an hour before the opening, futures contracts on the major New York indices lost between 0.2% and 0.5%, a harbinger of a moderately bearish start to the session.

The semiconductor segment is expected to suffer particularly following Intel's announcement last night that it had exceeded market forecasts for the fourth quarter, but was reporting weaker-than-expected forecasts.

According to IG analysts, this disappointment could be the first sign that markets have set excessive expectations around the chip and AI sectors.

In this respect, the processor manufacturer's data center and AI business declined by 10% in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with 2022.

In the wake of these announcements, Intel's major competitors such as AMD, Broadcom, Micron Technology and Qualcomm are all expected to be in the red at the opening.

Also on the earnings front, American Express and Visa - which are also listed on the Dow Jones index - are also losing ground following the publication of their quarterly accounts.

This morning's announcement of a further slowdown in inflation in the USA should, however, help limit the downturn in the US markets.

An hour before the opening, the US Commerce Department reported a further deceleration in inflation as the Federal Reserve meets next Tuesday for two days.

Excluding food and energy, two usually volatile categories, the 'PCE' price index - closely monitored by the Fed - fell from +3.2% in November to +2.9% month-on-month.

This confirmation of slowing inflationary pressures is helping to push bond yields lower, with the yield on 10-year US Treasuries back towards 4.11%.

On the currency markets, the dollar eased back a little against the euro, which climbed back above 1.0870, after rising in recent days on expectations that the Fed would adopt a less accommodating stance than expected.

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