The New York Stock Exchange was hesitant on Friday, torn between Intel's disappointing forecasts and confirmation of the disinflation movement taking place in the United States.

At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones was up by almost 0.3% at 38,147.8 points, but the Nasdaq Composite was still down by 0.1% at 15,504.3 points, weighed down by the general decline in semiconductor-related stocks.

U.S. equity markets gradually returned to around their equilibrium point following the release of the latest inflation figures, coming on the heels of the Fed's scenario of further rate cuts.

The Commerce Department this morning reported a further deceleration in inflation, while the Federal Reserve is due to meet next Tuesday for a two-day meeting.

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 publication confirms the clear disinflation at work in the US and opens the door to a Fed rate cut as early as March", says Bastien Drut, Head of Strategy and Economic Research at CPR AM.

According to the analyst, this deceleration is likely to continue in the months ahead, as the sharp slowdown in rents is taken into account with a time lag.

Another encouraging economic indicator was the 0.7% rise in consumer spending last month compared with November, on income growth of just 0.3% month-on-month.

The semiconductor sector, which has been a major contributor to Wall Street's growth in recent months, is nevertheless in trouble following Intel's disappointing results.

The processor manufacturer is down by more than 11% and is the Dow's biggest decliner, after reporting better-than-expected quarterly results last night, but also disappointing forecasts.

In its wake, all the major chipmakers such as AMD (-0.1%), Broadcom (-1%), Micron Technology (-1.5%) and Qualcomm (-1.7%) lost ground at the end of the morning.

Also on the results front, American Express soared 7% after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results and encouraging forecasts for 2024.

On the bond front, the slowdown in inflationary pressures is not weighing on Treasury yields, with the ten-year note holding on tightly to the 4.15% threshold.

On the currency markets, the dollar is pulling back a little against the euro, climbing back towards 1.0860, after rising in recent days on expectations that the Fed would adopt a less accommodating stance than expected.

As for oil, a barrel of US light crude (WTI) is up 0.3% at $77.6, heading for a second consecutive week of gains, with a gain of around 5% for the week as a whole.

As for the equity markets, the Dow Jones is up 0.8% this week, while the Nasdaq has gained 1.3% since Monday.

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