Wall Street inches up, underpinned by tech shares

US stock indexes rose during Friday’s trading, supported by a rebound in the technology sector, particularly a number of stocks linked to artificial intelligence companies.

Oracle shares advanced after the company joined a joint venture to manage TikTok’s operations in the United States, following the sale of the Chinese app’s US business.

Meanwhile, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said that “technical factors” may have negatively affected the accuracy of November inflation data, leading the headline index to come in below its underlying trend.

“As a result, I think the data were distorted in some categories, which pushed the consumer price index lower, perhaps by about a tenth of a percentage point or so,” he said.

He stressed that it is difficult to be certain, but noted that December inflation data are expected to be more accurate.

In market trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5%, or 248 points, at 48,200 as of 14:55 GMT. The broader S&P 500 rose 0.7%, or 47 points, to 6,822, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.9%, or 222 points, to 23,225.