Stocks close week with new records powered by tech gains and ceasefire optimism
The S&P 500 gained for the ninth straight week, its longest winning run since 2023.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 set new record closing highs, while the Russell 2000 dipped. This morning, President Trump posted on Truth Social that he’s meeting with advisers in the Situation Room to make a “final determination” on a peace deal with Iran.
Information technology was the best-performing sector as Snowflake’s earnings eased investor fears of an AI-induced “SAASpocalypse,” lifting the entire software sector, with Salesforce, Microsoft, Palantir, CrowdStrike, ServiceNow, Atlassian, Figma, Zscaler, Microsoft, and Intuit climbing.
Aside from tech, financials was the only other sector to close in the green, while consumer staples fared the worst.
Moving higher:
Dell soared after delivering blowout quarterly results and boosting full-year guidance after the bell yesterday, driven by surging AI server demand.
Dell’s strong Q1 beat lifted the broader server hardware space, with HP Enterprise and Super Micro Computer surging on the news.
Ford rallied after Bank of America hiked its price target to $20 from $17.
Micron and Sandisk rose on new Wall Street-high price targets from Susquehanna.
Okta soared on a Q1 earnings beat and raised outlook driven by AI security demand.
SoFi Technologies continued to surge following the launch of its stablecoin to 15 million customers.
BlackBerry climbed, extending what is one of its hottest rallies of all time.
Nextpower climbed on news it will acquire battery energy storage provider Prevalon Energy, along with price target hikes from Jefferies and other analysts.
Moving lower:
AST SpaceMobile plummeted after a Blue Origin rocket explosion.
Gap sank after cutting its annual sales forecast and missing on earnings.
Costco shares fell following the company’s mixed fiscal third-quarter earnings report. The retailer managed to outperform Wall Street estimates on earnings per share and membership fees, but missed on revenue overall as budget-conscious consumers spent less than analysts had expected.
Cryptocurrency sui fell as the blockchain halted transactions for the second day in a row.
