WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After recovering from an initial pullback to end Thursday's session mostly higher, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday. The major averages fluctuated over the course of the session before closing mixed.
While the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 80.48 points or 0.4 percent to a more than one-month closing high of 22,902.89, the S&P 500 edged down 7.77 points or 0.1 percent to 6,816.89 and the Dow slid 269.23 points or 0.6 percent to 47,916.57.
Despite the mixed performance on the day, the major averages all posted strong gains for the week due largely to the rally seen on Wednesday. The Nasdaq spiked by 4.7 percent, while the S&P 500 surged by 3.6 percent and the Dow jumped by 3.0 percent.
The pullback by the Dow partly reflected a slump by shares of Salesforce (CRM), with the cloud-based software company tumbling by 3.5 percent. Dow components Nike (NKE), IBM Corp. (IBM) and Verizon (VZ) also showed notable moves to the downside.
Meanwhile, the lackluster performance by the broader markets came amid lingering about whether the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East will hold.
Ahead of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran in Pakistan over the weekend, President Donald Trump said Iran is doing a 'very poor job' of allowing oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz, adding, 'That is not the agreement we have!'
Trump also responded to reports indicating Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the vital waterway, saying, 'They better not be and, if they are, they better stop now!'
'The Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!' Trump said in a subsequent post.
Meanwhile, traders largely shrugged off a report from the University of Michigan showing a significant deterioration in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of April.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index plunged to 47.6 in April after falling to 53.3 in March. Economists had expected the index to dip to 52.0.
The index tumbled to its lowest level on record amid concerns about the war with Iran and a surge in year-ahead inflation expectations.
A separate report released by the Labor Department showed consumer prices advanced by 0.9 percent in March, in line with economist estimates.
Sector News
Reflecting the lackluster performance by the broader markets, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves.
Semiconductor stocks showed a significant move to the upside, however, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surging by 2.3 percent to a record closing high.
Gold and computer hardware stocks also turned in strong performances on the day, while software, biotechnology and healthcare stocks saw considerable weakness.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.8 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index increased by 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets ended the day little changed. While the French CAC 40 Index crept up by 0.2 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K's FTSE 100 Index both closed just below the unchanged line.
In the bond market, treasuries have lower over the course of the session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, rose 2.4 basis points to 4.317 percent.
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