S&P 500, Nasdaq Close at Record Highs on Tech Rally

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes closed at record highs on Friday, propelled by strong gains in semiconductor and technology stocks amid robust first-quarter corporate earnings and a resilient labor market report.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to end at 7,398.93, after touching an intraday peak above 7,400 for the first time. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.7 percent to 26,247.08, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 0.02 percent to 49,609.16. The benchmarks marked their third record closes of the week and extended a six-session winning streak, the longest since October 2024. Year to date, the S&P 500 has gained 8 percent.

Technology shares led the advance, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging 5.5 percent to a new high, up more than 64 percent for the year. Micron Technology jumped 15.5 percent, Intel rose 13.9 percent on reports of a tentative chip supply agreement with Apple, and Advanced Micro Devices gained 11.4 percent. Nvidia, Alphabet, and Apple, the three most valuable publicly traded companies, each reached fresh highs, with their combined market value exceeding $2.1 trillion. Analysts pointed to escalating demand for AI data centers and...