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March PCE data in line with estimates

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Intel ( INTC ) down after dour Q2 forecast

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Indexes up: Dow 0.25%, S&P 0.71%, Nasdaq 1.33%

(Updated at 9:43 a.m. ET/1343 GMT)

By Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan

April 26 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes advanced on Friday as most

megacap growth stocks rose after robust quarterly results from

Alphabet pushed its market value over $2 trillion, while an

in-line inflation reading calmed interest rate jitters.

Alphabet jumped 10.8% to a record high after the

Google-parent announced its first-ever dividend, a $70 billion

stock buyback and beat estimates for first-quarter results.

The share surge led to the search giant's market value

briefly topping $2 trillion on an intraday basis.

Lifting sentiment further, Microsoft ( MSFT ) gained 2% on

beating Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and

profit, driven by gains from AI adoption across its cloud

services.

Other growth stocks also rose on the results, with

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ) up 1.7% and 1.6%,

respectively.

Aiding further gains, the personal consumption

expenditures(PCE) price index rose 0.3% in March, in line with

estimates by economists polled by Reuters. In the 12 months

through March, PCE inflation advanced 2.7% against expectations

of 2.6%.

Excluding the volatile food and energy components, the PCE

price index increased 0.3% last month against expectations of a

0.3% increase. Annually, it came in at 2.8% versus forecasts of

2.7%.

"This is a good number in (the sense) that it doesn't hurt

the confidence of the Fed that inflation's moving in the right

direction, but it doesn't necessarily add to their confidence

(that) it's going towards their 2% target on a sustainable

basis," said Steve Wyett, chief investment strategist at BOK

Financial.

Money markets priced in a firmer chance of a rate cut in

September after the data.

Yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note

fell after the data, last standing at 4.6506%

The upbeat earnings across several sectors this week have

propped up Wall Street's main stock indexes for weekly gains,

with the benchmark S&P 500 looking to snap three weeks of

losses while the Nasdaq is set to end four straight

weeks of declines.

Adjusted blended earnings for the first quarter are

estimated to grow by 8.7% on a year-on-year basis versus 7.4%

growth seen on Thursday, according to LSEG data.

At 9:43 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was

up 94.39 points, or 0.25%, at 38,180.19, the S&P 500 was

up 36.08 points, or 0.71%, at 5,084.50, and the Nasdaq Composite

was up 207.74 points, or 1.33%, at 15,819.50.

Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were trading

higher, with communication services jumping 4.6%,

while energy led losses with a 1.1% fall.

Snap surged 24.4% after the social media firm beat

first-quarter estimates for quarterly revenue and user growth.

Shares of Pinterest ( PINS ) also rose 4.1%.

Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) lost 2.8% after the largest U.S. oil

company missed analysts' estimates with a 28% year-on-year drop

in first-quarter profit.

Intel ( INTC ) dropped 12.3% on forecasting second-quarter

revenue and profit below estimates as it faces weak demand for

its traditional data center and PC chips and trails in the

surging market for AI components.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.01-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 2.14-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded seven new 52-week highs and eight new

lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 18 new highs and 30 new lows.