XLV - Tech Stocks Soar Microsoft Reaches Record High As AI Rally Resumes: What's Driving Markets Friday? | Benzinga
Stocks rallied on Friday, reversing the negative session from Thursday, which had broken the longest winning streak in over two years, following hawkish comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Federal Reserve policy.
The tech sector is back on the rise, driven by the performance of the Magnificent 7 titans, with Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) reaching a new all-time high, breaking above $369 at the time of publication.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is also up, marking its fourth consecutive week of gains, the best streak since January 2023.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index fell to 60.4 in November, the lowest in six months, well below the forecast of 63.7. However, five-year inflation expectations reached 4.4%, the highest level since March 2011.
Cues From Friday's Trading:
The S&P 500 rose 1%, on track to end the week in the green. Blue chips in the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%, battling to close the week in the green.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 soared 1.8%, pushing weekly gains to 2.4%. Small caps also rose 0.8%, but remained negative for the week.
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