WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After showing a strong move to the upside early in the session, stocks gave back ground over the course of the trading day on Friday. The major averages pulled back well off their highs of the session, with the Dow sliding into negative territory.
The major averages eventually ended the day mixed. While the Dow fell 152.87 points or 0.3 percent to 49,499.27, the S&P 500 rose 21.11 points or 0.3 percent to 7,320.12 and the Nasdaq advanced 222.13 points or 0.9 percent to 25,144.44.
Despite pulling back off their best levels of the day, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 still finished the session at new record closing highs.
The major averages also moved to the upside for the week. The Nasdaq jumped by 1.1 percent, the S&P 500 climbed by 0.9 percent and the Dow increased by 0.6 percent.
The early strength on Wall Street came amid a sharp increase by shares of Apple (AAPL), with the tech giant surging by 3.3 percent.
Apple nearly reached the record intraday high set last December after reporting better than expected fiscal second quarter results and forecasting revenues for the current quarter above analyst estimates.
Buying interest was also generated in reaction to an extended pullback by the price of crude oil, with U.S. crude oil futures tumbling by nearly 3 percent.
U.S. crude oil futures showed a significant downturn on Thursday, slumping by 1.7 percent after reaching their highest levels in four years.
The continued decrease by crude oil prices came amid reports Iran has delivered its response to the latest U.S. amendments on the agreement to end the war through Pakistani mediators.
However, the positive sentiment may have been partly offset by the response from President Donald Trump, who told reporters at the White House that he was 'not satisfied' with Iran's proposal.
In U.S. economic news, the Institute for Supply Management released a report showing manufacturing activity expanded for the fourth consecutive month in April.
The ISM said its manufacturing PMI came in at 52.7 in April, unchanged from March. While a reading above 50 still indicates growth, economists had expected the index to inch up to 53.0.
Sector News
Computer hardware and software stocks saw substantial strength on the day, contributing to the advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Reflecting the strength in the sectors, the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index and the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index both surged by 2.5 percent.
Considerable strength was also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 1.7 percent gain posted by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.
On the other hand, brokerage stocks showed a significant move to the downside, dragging the NYSE Arca Broker/Dealer Index down by 1.9 percent.
Housing, gold and energy stocks also saw notable weakness on the day, limiting the upside for the broader markets.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher on Friday, with several major markets closed for the day. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index rose by 0.4 percent, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed by 0.7 percent.
Meanwhile, most major European markets were closed for May Day, but U.K. stocks showed a modest move to the downside. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index edged down by 0.1 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries saw modest strength, extending the rebound seen in the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, dipped 1.2 basis points to 4.378 percent.
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