Stocks showed a strong move to the upside during trading on Friday, extending the significant rebound seen over the course of Thursday’s session. With the upward move, the major averages further offset the weakness seen earlier in the week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq reached new highs for the session going into the end of the day, closing up 301.26 points or 1.3 percent at 23,307.62. The S&P 500 also jumped 59.74 points or 0.9 percent to 6,834.50, while the narrower Dow rose 183.04 points or 0.4 percent to 48,134.89.

With the strong upward move seen over the past two days, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 turned positive for the week.

The Nasdaq climbed by 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 inched up by 0.1 percent, although the Dow slid by 0.7 percent.

The continued strength on Wall Street came amid a sharp increase by shares of Oracle (ORCL), with the software giant spiking by 6.6 percent.

Oracle surged after a memo from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the company has agreed to sell its U.S. operations to a joint venture that includes Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake.

Shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) also showed another strong move to the upside after helping lead the markets higher on Thursday on better than expected quarterly results and blowout guidance.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) also turned a strong performance on the day, with the AI darling and market leader jumping by 3.9 percent.

The advance by Nvidia came after a report from Reuters said the Trump administration has launched a review that could result in the first shipments of the company’s second-most powerful AI chips to China.

In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a modest increase by existing home sales in the U.S. in the month of November.

NAR said existing home sales rose by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million in November after jumping by 1.5 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 4.10 million in October.

Economists had expected existing home sales to shoot up by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.15 million from the 4.10 million originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. rebounded by less than previously estimates in the month of December.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for December was downwardly revised to 52.9 from a preliminary reading of 53.3. Economists had expected the index to be upwardly revised to 53.4.

Despite the downward revision, the index is still above the November reading of 51.0, which marked its lowest level since hitting a record low of 50.0 in June 2022.

Sector News

Biotechnology stocks turned in some of the market’s best performances on the day, with the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index surging by 3.1 percent.

Semiconductor and networking stocks also extended the strong upward moves seen on Thursday, contributing to the jump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Gold stocks also saw considerable strength amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 2.7 percent.

Computer hardware, airline and financial stocks also showed notable moves to the upside, while some weakness was visible among utilities and housing stocks.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.0 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced by 0.8 percent.

The major European markets also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index climbed by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index rose by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index closed just above the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries gave back ground following the strength seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 3.5 basis points to 4.151 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading activity may be somewhat next week due to the Christmas Day holiday on Thursday, although reports on durable goods orders, industrial production and consumer confidence may still attract attention.

SOURCE: RTTNEWS

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