By Ankika Biswas and Lisa Pauline Mattackal
(Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes climbed on Friday, regaining some lost ground following a weak session on Wall Street after inflation concerns rekindled monetary policy caution ahead of a long weekend.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped over 1% and was on track for its fifth straight weekly advance, while the blue-chip Dow was set for its first weekly decline in five after dropping to a two-week low on Thursday.
Trading volumes for the day are expected to be light, with the U.S. equity market closed on Monday for Memorial Day.
All three main indexes fell on Thursday as economic data pointing to rising price pressures dented bets of interest-rate cuts this year, taking the limelight off Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)'s blowout quarterly results that reinforced investor faith in Big Tech's bet on artificial intelligence.
Nvidia shares rose 0.6% after jumping more than 9% a day earlier, closing above the key $1,000 mark and adding around $218 billion to its market value.
Reuters reported the company's most advanced AI chip developed for China had a weak start, with abundant supply forcing it to be priced below Huawei's rival chip.
Other megacap stocks including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta (NASDAQ:META) Platforms also jumped between 0.8% and 2.5%.
Communication services gained 1.2%, leading gains across major S&P 500 sectors.
Fresh data showed orders for durable goods rose 0.7% in April, compared with a 0.8% dip expected by economists polled by Reuters, while the University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for May came in at 69.1, above expectations of 67.5.
"The prior month's data was revised (lower) and if we look at that in combined with a decent reading this month, it tells us as far as the bigger picture, durable goods are going to be somewhat muted for the quarter," said Brian Klimke, chief market strategist at Cetera Investment Management.
"Our view is that the Fed may cut rates more than the market is anticipating. We're in the camp that we could see as many as three cuts this year."
Traders expect the U.S. central bank to ease its interest rates by 34 basis points by year-end. Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) pushed back its call for a first rate cut to September from July.
Small-cap stocks regained some ground, with the Russell 2000 rising 0.9% after Thursday's losses.
U.S. equity funds secured substantial inflows in the week ended May 22, boosted by optimism around robust corporate earnings. LSEG Lipper data showed investors pumped $9.9 billion into U.S. equity funds, significantly higher than $4.1 billion a week earlier.
At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 80.15 points, or 0.21%, at 39,145.41, the S&P 500 was up 35.45 points, or 0.67%, at 5,303.29, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 176.56 points, or 1.05%, at 16,912.60.
Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) dropped 13.9% after the human resources software provider cut its annual subscription revenue forecast.
Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) jumped 9.8% after posting first-quarter results above estimates and raising its annual profit forecast.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.22-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.89-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 26 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 47 new highs and 82 new lows.