US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq rise on tech rally after inflation data; Middle East tensions in focus

* Indexes: Dow down 0.39%, S&P 500 up 0.05%, Nasdaq up 0.47%

* March CPI rises 3.3%, in line with estimates

* CoreWeave (CRWV) gains after deal with Anthropic

* S&P 500, Nasdaq set for biggest weekly jump since May (Updates with late morning prices)

By Purvi Agarwal and Avinash P

April 10 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged higher on Friday, boosted by surging chip stocks after March inflation data met expectations despite ongoing pressures from the war in the Middle East, while investors monitored the uneasy truce between the U.S. and Iran.

Tehran said a ceasefire in Lebanon was a prerequisite for peace talks to proceed, casting doubt over the first round of discussions with Washington, scheduled for Saturday.

Investors were cautiously optimistic a peace agreement could be reached, despite the two-week ceasefire showing cracks as each side accuses the other of violations.

"People are maybe positioning. They know that it's not a done deal; they want to see it get done and then you're going to see the market really rally," said Eric Schiffer, chairman of The Patriarch Organization, a Los Angeles-based family office.

The two-week U.S.-Iran truce, and comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was seeking direct talks with Beirut, largely buoyed market sentiment this week.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were on track for their biggest weekly jumps since May, and the Dow was set for its sharpest rise since June.

At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 187.76 points, or 0.39%, to 47,998.04, the S&P 500 gained 3.60 points, or 0.05%, to 6,828.26 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 106.45 points, or 0.47%, to 22,928.87.

The S&P 500 information technology index was the biggest boost to the index, rising 1%, with chipmakers taking the lead. Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) rose 2.7% and 5.7%, respectively, and the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index hit a record high of 8,926.95.

"One thing we know is, businesses will continue to be buying chips at mass rates, so any AI hardware remains the main trade today," Schiffer said.

However, weakness in financial stocks, which were down 1.2%, capped gains on the benchmark index. Declines in Goldman Sachs (GS) and Travelers dragged on the Dow.

In economic data, U.S. consumer prices increased the most in nearly four years in March as the war boosted oil prices and tariff effects persisted.

Traders stuck to bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve would hold borrowing costs steady this year, according to data compiled by LSEG, pulling back from an expectation of two rate cuts this year before the conflict began.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told Reuters on Thursday the oil shock from the Iran war would extend the timeline on bringing inflation back to the U.S. central bank's 2% target.

Separately, U.S. consumer sentiment plunged to a record low in early April and consumers anticipated a surge in inflation in the next 12 months, a survey showed on Friday.

In other movers, CoreWeave (CRWV) jumped 13.5% after announcing a multi-year agreement with Anthropic and priced its convertible bond offering at a premium.

U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) , the world's largest contract chipmaker, rose 2.3% after it beat market forecasts for first-quarter revenue.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.06-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.37-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 19 new 52-week highs and 22 new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 94 new highs and 101 new lows. (Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Avinash P in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Pooja Desai)