U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average barely hitting a new high, while chip stocks showed weakness. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended their sixth consecutive daily rise. On the weekly basis, all three major indexes recorded increases, with the Dow rising 0.65%, the S&P up 1.06%, and the Nasdaq gaining 0.94%.
Rhys Williams, chief strategist at Spouting Rock Asset Management, credited the overall strength of U.S. stocks this week to a series of encouraging U.S. economic data, including GDP and PCE. However, traders reduced their bets on the Fed’s interest rate cuts due to strong data in the personal spending report, which put pressure on technology stocks.
Chip stocks, in particular, saw significant movement on Friday. Intel plummeted after announcing guidance post-market, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed down 2.91%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index, however, outperformed the market, rising 3.87% for the week despite a 0.45% drop on Friday.
Several pieces of company news affected the stock market. The European Commission’s Internal Market Commissioner warned Apple that if it fails to adjust its App Store policies with the EU’s upcoming Digital Market Act, it “will face severe penalties.” Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that Tesla plans to buy AMD chips. In the airline sector, Alaska Airlines announced the completion of inspections on its first batch of Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft and plans to resume operations. Meanwhile, Spirit Airlines issued a statement countering JetBlue Airways’ statement about potentially terminating a $3.8 billion merger agreement.
In the automotive industry, Polestar Automobile plans to lay off 15% of its global workforce due to challenging market conditions, and Maserati confirmed its plans to design and manufacture 100% in Italy. These developments in various sectors provided further insight into the financial markets as the week came to a close.