Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages ended a record-setting week on a mostly higher note, with the S&P 500 (+0.8%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.7%) capturing fresh record intraday and closing highs amid solid tech leadership. Strength in the broader market was mixed and kept the DJIA on its flatline.

The PHLX Semiconductor Index spent the entire session well above its flatline as investors bought into yesterday's dip across its components. Memory names Micron (MU 746.79, +100.16, +15.49%) and Sandisk (SNDK 1562.34, +222.38, +16.60%) rocketed to fresh all-time highs, while Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 455.19, +46.73, +11.44%) and Intel (INTC 124.90, +15.28, +13.93%) captured similar gains.

Elsewhere in the information technology sector, Akamai Tech (AKAM 147.71, +31.02, +26.58%) was the top-performing S&P 500 component after a mixed earnings report that featured an announcement that a leading frontier model provider (which Bloomberg later reported to be Anthropic) has committed to $1.8 billion over seven years for cloud infrastructure.

The technology sector was the only S&P 500 sector to capture a gain wider than 0.5%, as the broader market had a relatively muted session amid the semiconductor rally.

There was some lingering strength across other mega-cap tech names, particularly Tesla (TSLA 428.29, +16.50, +4.01%), that helped the consumer discretionary (+0.5%) sector trade higher and the communication services sector finish flat despite broad weakness in its components.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+1.2%) notched a nice gain, which contributed to the outperformance of the market-weighted S&P 500 (+0.8%) relative to the S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index (+0.3%).

Meanwhile, the defensive health care (-0.9%) and utilities (-0.9%) sectors finished with the widest losses amid the outperformance in tech stocks.

The consumer staples sector (+0.1%) avoided a loss, due in part to Monster Beverage's (MNST 86.31, +10.34, +13.61%) post-earnings rally.

On the geopolitical front, the market showed a muted reaction to the U.S. and Iran exchanging fire in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. awaits a response from Iran on its latest peace proposal. Crude oil futures settled today's session $0.50 higher (+0.5%) at $95.39 per barrel.

This morning's release of the Employment Situation report for April, which showed very strong headline nonfarm payrolls growth (115,000; Briefing.com consensus 67,000), but average hourly earnings (0.2%; Briefing.com consensus 0.3%) showed a smaller-than-expected increase, reflecting some pressure on spending power, especially when accounting for the recent inflationary shock.

Despite some mixed participation beneath the surface, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite still finished firmly higher for the week as semiconductor and mega-cap technology stocks reasserted their leadership following Thursday's brief pullback. Continued AI-driven enthusiasm, solid earnings growth, and resilience across large-cap tech names helped keep the market's momentum firmly intact heading into next week.

U.S. Treasuries finished a bumpy week with modest gains across the curve, though the 2-year note just missed a higher finish for the week while longer tenors recorded slim gains for the week. The 2-year note yield settled down three basis points to 3.89% (unchanged this week), and the 10-year note yield settled down three basis points to 4.36% (-2 basis points this week).

• Russell 2000: +15.3% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: +12.9% YTD
• S&P Mid Cap 400: +11.9% YTD
• S&P 500: +8.1% YTD
• DJIA: +3.2% YTD

Reviewing today's data:

• The April Employment Situation Report featured a 115,000 increase in nonfarm payrolls, a 4.3% unemployment rate, and a bump in the average workweek to 34.3 hours (from 34.2). This was not an indisputably strong employment report, however. Average hourly earnings growth was weaker than expected, the labor force participation rate dipped, and the U-6 unemployment rate, which accounts for unemployed and underemployed workers, increased.
  
  • The key takeaway from the report, though, may just be found in a number that looks good on the surface but could be a harbinger of lower spending activity if inflation pressures aren't controlled. We're talking about the 3.6% year-over-year increase in average hourly earnings, which leaves real earnings up just 0.3% when pitted against the March CPI report or up just 0.1% when measured against the latest PCE Price Index. That doesn't provide a lot of discretionary spending cushion without taking on debt or dipping into savings.
• The preliminary reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for May dropped to 48.2 (Briefing.com consensus: 50.5) from the final reading of 49.8 for April. In the same period a year ago, the index stood at 52.2.
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is that consumers are clearly concerned about rising costs and their ability to out-earn the inflation.
• Wholesale inventories increased 1.3% in March (Briefing.com consensus 1.4%), from the revised previous increase of 0.9% (from 0.8%).

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.8%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.5) are well positioned to capture record closing highs to go along with their record intraday levels, while the DJIA (-0.1%) battles to close with a gain.

Bloomberg reports that Anthropic is the firm behind a $1.8 billion cloud computing deal with Akamai Tech (AKAM 148.43, +31.74, +27.20%) that sent the stock sharply higher after earnings today.

[BRIEFING.COM] The afternoon has progressed in a relatively quiet manner, with the S&P 500 (+0.7%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.5%), and DJIA (-0.2%) little changed from previous levels. Tech, and in particular, semiconductor names continue to drive the index-level gains, while the broader market is mixed.

Crude oil futures settled today's session $0.50 higher (+0.5%) at $95.39 per barrel.

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.86%) is in second place on Friday afternoon, up about 63 points.

Briefly, S&P 500 constituents Intel (INTC 123.65, +14.03, +12.80%), Dell (DELL 256.79, +26.52, +11.52%), and Corpay (CPAY 339.87, +34.12, +11.16%) dot the top of the standings. INTC rallies on reports of a preliminary Apple (AAPL 292.54, +5.10, +1.77%) chip-making deal that boosts confidence in its foundry turnaround and sparked broad semiconductor sector rotation and short-covering, while DELL rises after President Trump touted the company in an appearance this afternoon saying specifically "go out and buy a Dell," with CPAY rallying after a broad Q1 beat and upbeat FY26/Q2 guidance signaled sustained double-digit organic growth and improving earnings momentum.

Meanwhile, Motorola Solutions (MSI 382.74, -50.46, -11.65%) is one of today's worst laggards, dropping to a near four-month low on valuation-driven profit-taking even after a Q1 beat, raised guidance, and strong backlog, as investors focused on limited upside versus expectations. Into last night's print, shares of MSI were +13.0% YTD vs. +7.2% in the S&P 500.

[BRIEFING.COM] The Nasdaq Composite (+1.53%) is in first place on Friday afternoon, up about 395 points.

Gold futures settled $19.80 higher (+0.4%) at $4,730.70/oz, down then +1.9% on the week, as a softer dollar and easing Treasury yields boosted demand for the precious metal. Ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, expectations for eventual Fed rate cuts, and continued central-bank buying also supported safe-haven flows into gold.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index is down about -0.4% to $97.89.