Asia markets likely to increase before Chinese surveys.

Technology stocks climbed on Friday, boosting the Nasdaq Composite by more than 2% midday Friday.

Major gainers included technology giants and semiconductor stocks. Alphabet, Amazon and Netflix rose about 3% each, while Meta Platforms jumped more than 4%, bringing its weekly gains to nearly 11%. Nvidia added 2%, while Applied Materials and KLA Corp gained more than 4% each. Tesla surged 4%.

Lucid Group jumped nearly 8%, while Intel rallied nearly 7% on better-than-expected earnings and a return to profitability. Other gainers included Chinese technology stocks JD.com and PDD, last up about 5% and 7%, respectively.

— Samantha Subin

Communication services outpaced the S&P 500 on Friday. The sector was higher by 1.8%.

Major advancers included Meta Platforms, which was up more than 2.8%. Warner Bros. Discovery gained 2.5%. Alphabet added 2.4%.

— Sarah Min

The employment cost index, a measure the Federal Reserve considers an important indicator of underlying inflation, increased less than expected in the second quarter.

The index rose 1% for the three-month period ending in June, slightly below the 1.1% estimate, the Labor Department reported Friday.

On an annual basis, compensation costs increased 4.5%, slightly ahead of the 4.1% increase for core inflation as reported Friday by the Commerce Department. That annual ECI level was below the 5.1% pace from the previous year.

—Jeff Cox

Inflation showed further signs of cooling in June, according to a gauge released Friday that the Federal Reserve follows closely.

The personal consumption expenditures price index excluding food and energy increased just 0.2% from the previous month, in line with the Dow Jones estimate, the Commerce Department said.

So-called core PCE rose 4.1% from a year ago, compared to the estimate for 4.2%. The annual rate was the lowest since September 2021.

— Jeff Cox