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Dow, S&P 500 set for weekly losses

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Nearly 78% of reporting S&P 500 companies have beaten

forecasts

- LSEG data

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Megacap shares recover after Thursday's dour session

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Workday falls after cutting revenue forecast

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Ross Stores ( ROST ) rises after Q1 results beat

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Indexes up: Dow 0.15%, S&P 0.39%, Nasdaq 0.46%

(Updated at 10:02 am ET)

By Ankika Biswas and Lisa Pauline Mattackal

May 24 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock indexes opened higher on Friday, but the

blue-chip Dow and the benchmark S&P 500 were set to snap four

straight weeks of gains as inflation concerns rekindled monetary

policy caution ahead of a long weekend.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq, however, was on course to add

0.8% for the week thanks to Nvidia's ( NVDA ) blowout quarterly

results reinforcing investor faith in Big Tech's bet on

artificial intelligence.

Thursday's session still saw all three main indexes fall as

economic data pointing to rising price pressures dented bets of

interest-rate cuts this year.

After a strong earnings season and expectation-beating

forecasts from Nvidia ( NVDA ), "the shift for investors now goes back to

(the Fed)," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh

Capital Partners.

"We're going to be looking for all of that data and that

will drive the market."

Fresh data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed orders for

durable goods rose 0.7% in April, compared with a 0.8% dip

expected by economists polled by Reuters. The University of

Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for May came in at

69.1, beating forecasts for a reading of 67.5.

Traders expect the U.S. central bank to ease its interest

rates by 34 basis points by year-end. Goldman Sachs pushed back

its call for a first rate cut to September from July.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares rose 0.3% 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.

All 11 S&P 500 subsectors were in positive territory on

Friday.

Other megacap stocks including Apple ( AAPL ), Alphabet

and Meta Platforms ( META ) rose between 0.2% and

0.9%.

Small-cap stocks regained some ground, with the Russell

2000 rising 0.6% after Thursday's 1.6% loss.

The U.S. equity market will be closed on Monday for Memorial

Day.

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 10:03 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

was up 56.86 points, or 0.15%, at 39,122.12, the S&P 500

was up 20.59 points, or 0.39%, at 5,288.43, and the Nasdaq

Composite was up 76.93 points, or 0.46%, at 16,812.96.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

approved applications from Nasdaq, CBOE and NYSE to list

exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to ether prices,

potentially paving the way for products to begin trading later

this year. However, ProShares Ether Strategy ETF was

down 2.8%.

Workday dropped 11.5% after the human resources

software provider cut its annual subscription revenue forecast.

Ross Stores ( ROST ) jumped 8.7% after posting first-quarter

results above estimates and raising its annual profit forecast.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.38-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE and by a 1.81-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 14 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows,

while the Nasdaq recorded 23 new highs and 48 new lows.