S&P 500 futures rose Friday as Big Tech names Alphabet and Microsoft saw shares rally on strong earnings. Futures linked to the broad market index climbed 0.7%, and Nasdaq 100 futures popped 1.02%. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 62 points, or 0.16%. Shares of Alphabet jumped nearly 12% in extended trading following better-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The company also authorized its first-ever dividend and a $70 billion buyback. Microsoft climbed 4% after the software maker posted fiscal third-quarter results that surpassed Wall Street’s expectations. The strength in these mega-cap stocks could give the major averages a boost after a losing day on Wall Street. The blue-chip Dow slid 375 points Thursday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively. Thursday’s sell-off was triggered by new U.S. economic data that showed a sharp slowdown in growth and pointed to persistent inflation. Gross domestic product expanded by 1.6% in the first quarter, compared to a Dow Jones forecast of 2.4%. Also, the personal consumption expenditures price index for the period rose at a 3.4% pace, well above the previous quarter’s 1.8% increase.  The PCE price index is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge. Futures market pricing shifted further following the report, with traders now anticipating just one interest rate cut this year, in September. “The Fed will be more concerned by inflation running above their target in the first quarter than slower growth,” said Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank. “The Fed is likely to slow the pace of their balance sheet runoffs at one of the next few meetings, but wait until September to start reducing interest rates.” Still, major averages are on track for a winning week. The S&P 500 is up 1.6% week to date, on pace to break a three-week losing streak. The Nasdaq has gained more than 2%, headed for its first positive week in five. The Dow is up by a more modest 0.3% this week. So far, about 38% of the S&P 500 companies have reported quarterly results, and nearly 80% of those beat earnings expectations. On the economic data front, March’s PCE reading will also be out on Friday morning. The report is expected to show inflation running at 2.6% on a 12-month basis, or 2.7% when excluding food and energy. U.S. Treasury yields were mixed Friday as investors digested Thursday’s gross domestic product report and looked ahead to the release of key inflation figures. At 6:50 a.m. ET, the 10-year Treasury was down by 1.6 points to 4.69%. The yield on the 2-year Treasury rose less than one basis point to 5.0002%. The Japanese yen slid to over 156 against the U.S. dollar on Friday after the Bank of Japan left its benchmark interest rate unchanged. Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.81% to end at 37,934.76, while the Topix was up 0.86% and finished at 2,686.48. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 2.12%, leading gains in Asia, while mainland China’s CSI 300 was 1.53% higher at 3,584.27. South Korea’s Kospi was up 1.05% and closed at 2,656.33, while the small cap Kosdaq saw a smaller gain of 0.42% to 856.82. However, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 1.39% and closed at 7,575.9, dragged by industrial and health services stocks. Oil prices rose on Friday, on track to end higher this week after two straight weeks of losses, after a top U.S. official expressed optimism over economic growth and as supply concerns lingered due to conflicts in the Middle East. Brent crude futures gained 51 cents, or 0.6%, to $89.52 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by 55 cents, or 0.7%, to $84.10 a barrel. Brent has gained 2.5% so far this week, while WTI is up 1.1%. Gold was little changed on Friday ahead of a key U.S. inflation report, but prices were on track for their first weekly drop in six weeks on easing concerns of a major escalation of the Middle East crisis. Spot gold edged 0.1% higher at $2,334.57 per ounce by 0409 GMT. U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% at $2,346.70. However, for the week, prices were down 2.3%, set for their biggest weekly drop since early December, after a major escalation in the Middle East crisis was avoided. Prices were down nearly $100 from an all-time high of $2,431.29 scaled on April 12.