After a favorable start to the session, the New York Stock Exchange stalled on Friday despite the publication of an economic indicator arguing in favor of future Fed rate cuts.

At the end of the morning, the Dow Jones was still down 0.2% at 39,483.5 points, while the Nasdaq Composite was now down almost 0.2% at 16,319.2 points.483.5 points, while the Nasdaq Composite is now down almost 0.2% at 16,319.2 points.

U.S. consumer sentiment fell in May to its lowest level in six months, according to preliminary figures from the University of Michigan survey released on Friday.

Its Consumer Sentiment Index fell to 67.4 this month from 77.2 in April, while analysts were forecasting a much smaller decline to around 76.2.

According to Joanne Hsu, author of the report, consumers are now negative on a range of developments.

"They are expressing concern about inflation, unemployment and interest rates, all of which they believe could move in the wrong direction over the coming year", she points out.

This worse-than-expected indicator argues a priori for support from the Fed and strengthens the prospects of a first rate cut by the end of the year, which would be the first since 2020.

However, the bond market remains unmoved by these figures, with the yield on ten-year Treasuries continuing to hover around the 4.50% mark, as it has done for the past week.

The most traditional segment of the stock market is being supported by the rise in oil prices, which has rekindled investors' appetite for oil stocks.

The price of a barrel of Texas crude (WTI) rose by 0.4% to $79.6, its highest level since the beginning of May, as analysts at Goldman Sachs forecast a further reduction in OPEC+ production in June due to persistently high inventory levels.

For the week as a whole, the Dow has so far managed to gain 2.1% and the Nasdaq around 1%, heading for a third positive week in a row,

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