US Stocks Mark 7th Week Of Gains, Nasdaq Moves Closer To All-Time Highs: What's Driving Markets Friday?

U.S. stocks are poised to close their seventh consecutive week of gains, marking their longest winning streak since October 2017.

In Friday’s session, the S&P 500 index hovered around the flatline at 1 p.m. in New York, while the Nasdaq 100 rose by 0.4%, getting closer to retesting their all-time highs.

The Dow Jones continues to set new highs, reaching 37,275, but it entered a technically overbought condition not seen since January 2018.

Small-cap stocks declined by 0.9%, but they are in their fifth consecutive winning week, marking their best streak since December 2020.

The dollar, as tracked by Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, is up 0.6% after New York Federal Reserve John Williams said it’s premature to think about rate cuts. Gold, as tracked by the SPDR Gold Trust GLD slipped 0.6%, while Bitcoin BTC/USD tumbled 2.6%.

Friday Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices & ETFs	Price	% Change
Nasdaq 100	16,614.32	+0.5%
Dow Jones	37,303.26	+0.1%
S&P 500	4,720.30	0.0%
Russell 2000	1,983.03	-0.9%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.5% lower to $469.71, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA was 0.2% lower to $372.63 and the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ edged 0.5% higher to $405.28, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Sector-wise, the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE was the laggard, falling 1.6% after rallying over 3% Thursday. Technology, as tracked by the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK, outperformed, up 0.4%.

Among industries, solar stocks, as tracked by the Invesco Solar ETF TAN, rose 1.7%. Regional banks, as tracked by the SPDR Regional Banking ETF KRE, lagged behind, down 1.6%.

S&P Sector ETFs	% Change
Technology	+0.8%
Consumer Discretionary	+0.2%
Consumer Staples	0.0%
Materials	-0.1%
Industrials	-0.1%
Communications	-0.4%
Financials	-0.5%
Energy	-0.7%
Health Care	-0.9%
Utilities	-1.5%
Real Estate	-1.6%

Stocks In Focus

• First Solar Inc. FSLR rose 5.4% as Jefferies initiates the coverage with Buy rating, setting a price target of $211.
• Shares of of Steel Dynamics Inc. STLD rose 5.2% as the company released stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter guidance.
• Costco Wholesale Corp. COST rose 4.3% after reporting better-than-expected earnings.
• Exelon Corp. EXC tumbled 5.2% after falling 7.6% on Thursday amid a slew of analyst rating downgrades.
• Boeing Company BA rose 3% to the highest since March 2021 after UBS raised the price target from $275 to $315. Shares are up 50% since end October.

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