The S&P 500 rose Friday on the back of strong earnings from Big Tech names Apple and Amazon to cap off its biggest monthly gain in nearly two years.
The Dow Jones Industrials climbed 148.5 points to break for lunch hour at 32,678.13.
The S&P 500 sprang up 35.4 points to 4,107.83
The NASDAQ ballooned 128.81 points, or 1.1%, to 12,291.40.
Wall Street was set to post strong weekly gains. The Dow is now up 2.5% for the week, while the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ are up about 4% each.
The major averages were also on pace for their best month of the year. The Dow is on track for a more than 6% gain for July, which would be its highest since March 2021. The S&P 500 is up by 8.8% for the month and the NASDAQ, while still in bear market territory, is up nearly 12%. Both are looking at their biggest monthly gains since November 2020.
That performance is a stark contrast from the previous six months when stocks tumbled to their June bear market levels. The market reversed as investors' fears about the aggressive pacing of the Federal Reserve's interest rate increases started to wane and the idea that inflation has perhaps peaked began to settle in.
On Friday investors also got the final reading of the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which came in at 51.5 for July. That's a slight improvement over the preliminary reading and up from the June all-time low of 50.
Nevertheless, gains from two of the market's biggest stocks led the major averages higher. Amazon shares popped 10% after the e-commerce giant reported stronger-than-expected sales for the previous quarter, while Apple climbed about 2% after posting better-than-expected iPhone revenue.
Chevron gained 5% while Exxon Mobil hiked 2%.
However, the latest batch of corporate results has been mixed.
Shares of Roku sank more than 26% after the company missed estimates and warned of a slowdown in advertising. Chipmaker Intel dropped 11% after its quarterly results fell short of expectations.
More than half of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings, with 72% of those names beating expectations
Treasury prices rebounded, lowering yields to 2.63%, from Thursday's 2.67%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices added $4.07 to $100.49 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $13.40 to $1,763.70 U.S. an ounce.
S&P Heads for Best Month since 2020