The Nasdaq MarketSite in New York on Sept. 16, 2024.
Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Nasdaq Composite soared to an all-time high on Friday, boosted by megacap tech stocks.
The tech-heavy index rose 0.7%, while the S&P 500 added 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed shed 208 points, or roughly 0.5%, meanwhile.
Tech stocks boosted the market ahead of their upcoming earnings. Nvidia rallied about 0.7%, and shares of Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Netflix were also higher. On the earnings front, HCA Healthcare lost 10% after reporting hurricane disruptions hit its quarterly earnings and full-year guidance, while Colgate-Palmolive shares shed 4% after the company reduced the low-end of its sales estimate for the year.
The 10-year Treasury yield notably cooled off from its three-month highs after breaking above the 4.25% mark during Wednesday’s session. On Friday, it traded around 4.21%.
“Yields have risen meaningfully, and so I think that’s been an issue for the equity market,” said Phillip Colmar, managing partner and global strategist at MRB Partners. “On one hand, you got earnings that are decent, but then you end up with rate cuts, which should be positive.” However, the rates that matter right now are bond yields, he said. “That has caused a lot of uncertainty and you’re getting some just kind of digestion.”
These moves follow a mixed day on Wall Street. The Nasdaq joined the S&P 500 in finishing the session higher on Thursday, after both indexes were lifted by Tesla’s post-earnings rally.
Both the S&P 500 and Dow were on track to snap a six-week winning streak. The former is down 1% week to date, while the latter has shed about 2.7%. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is on pace for its seventh weekly gain, advancing 0.1% this week.
Correction: A previous version misstated the S&P 500 hit a record Friday. It last hit an all-time high on Oct. 17.