What happened Shares of tech giant Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) rose by about 2.7% on Friday. So what As the Fed has raised benchmark interest rates over the past year and slowing growth is anticipated across the U.S. economy, investors have become highly receptive to any announcements from top tech companies about plans to reduce expenses. Decelerating inflation generally means lower long-term interest rates, which boosts the present value of companies' future earnings and thus helps growth stocks like Alphabet.