US stocks steady after prior session rally

Wall Street stocks were little changed early Friday as equities held on to weekly gains amid greater optimism over US central bank policy and the economic outlook.

A day after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, major indices added more than one percent on Thursday as investors bet the US central bank's rate-hiking cycle was finished, or nearly done.

Sentiment has also been boosted by an array of US economic data that has bolstered hopes that the world's biggest economy can avert a recession.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 34,480.43, up 0.2 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1 percent at 4,432.15, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index dipped 0.1 percent to 13,770.84.

Among individual companies, Adobe rocketed 3.7 percent higher after reporting record quarterly revenues and projecting greater-than-expected profits in the current quarter.

The software giant said it is well-positioned to "lead" in the new era of generative artificial intelligence.




AFP