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Nasdaq closes Friday at record high as Nvidia and the AI trade rallies on

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on May 24, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

The Nasdaq closed Friday at a fresh record high as gains in chipmaker Nvidia outweighed worries that the Federal Reserve will delay interest rate cuts.

The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, closing at 5,304.72, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.1%, ending at 16,920.79. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 4.3 points, or 0.01%, to finish at 39,069.59.

Week to date, the S&P 500 inched up just 0.03%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq outperformed, with a gain of 1.41%. Meanwhile, the Dow shed 2.33%, marking its first negative week in five.

Nvidia shares climbed around 2.6% Friday as enthusiasm continued over its blockbuster earnings report, pushing the shares above $1,000 for the first time. The bullish sentiment on the AI giant and other tech names powered the market higher, even as concerns the Fed will not lower rates this summer lingered.

After several strong economic and labor data releases this week, Goldman pushed its forecast for the Fed's first rate cut back to September from July.

"Inflation is likely to be much improved by September, but hardly perfect, and still at a year-on-year rate that makes cutting a less than obvious decision," wrote Goldman economist David Mericle.

Traders are now pricing in less than a 50% chance the central bank will cut rates at its September meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Several tech names were higher on Friday. Advanced Micro Devices and Intel rose 3.7% and 2.1%, respectively. Meta and Netflix shares also rallied 2.7% and 1.7% each. Their performance helped Nasdaq log its eleventh record close of the year.

Stocks end slightly higher Friday

U.S. stocks ended Friday's trading session in the green.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.7% and 1.1%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up around 4 points, or just 0.01%.

— Hakyung Kim

Nvidia shares notch 15% weekly gain

Chipmaker Nvidia has rallied 15% week-to-date. The stock has surged following its better than expected quarter earnings report on Wednesday, which indicated ongoing strong demand for its artificial intelligence chips.

Shares topped $1,000 for the first time this week on the earnings.

— Hakyung Kim

Communication services outperforms Friday

Communication services rose 1.1% Friday, leading the S&P 500's sector gains.

News Corporation gained 3.2%, outperforming the broader sector. Live Nation also rebounded more than 3% after falling more than 7% Thursday following a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice.

— Hakyung Kim

Oil prices headed toward negative week

Working oil pumpjacks on the outskirts of Maricopa in Kern County, California, on September 21, 2023.
Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images
Working oil pumpjacks on the outskirts of Maricopa in Kern County, California, on September 21, 2023.

Crude oil futures bounced back from three-month lows on Friday but are still heading to a weekly loss.

U.S. crude oil hit an intraday low of $76.15 in morning trading, the lowest level since Feb. 26. Global benchmark Brent fell to $80.65, the lowest level since Feb. 8.

The two benchmarks turned positive later in the session but are on pace for a weekly loss of about 3.2% and 2.5%, respectively.

More on oil prices can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim, Spencer Kimball

Signs of market broadening appearing, says strategist

Even as big tech names power the market higher and dominate headlines, there are signs of broadening, according to Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird.

"While there was some angst last year over heavy concentration in Big Tech stocks, the market has broadened out significantly in recent months," Mayfield said.

He noted that "While concentrated markets have not historically led to bad returns, it is usually a sign of a healthier economy when breadth — the number of individual stocks and sectors that are doing well — is better (more legs supporting the stool, so to speak)."

— Hakyung Kim

Biggest S&P 500 winners and losers for the week

Nikos Pekiaridis | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The S&P 500 is on track to finish the week little changed following a volatile stretch of trading.

First Solar is the biggest winner in the index and on pace for a 39% gain and its best week since April 2013. Moderna and Hoka-owner Deckers Outdoor have surged 27% and 15%, respectively. Nvidia is headed for a 14% week-to-date jump following another strong quarterly report and guidance.

Other major winners include Analog Devices, Enphase Energy and Constellation Energy, with gains of 8% or more.

Nordson Corporation and Dayforce lead the weekly losers, with shares down about 12% each. Walgreens Boots Alliance has slumped more than 11%, while Target and Lululemon Athletica are headed for weekly losses of 9%

— Samantha Subin

More companies are talking about AI on earnings calls

Artificial intelligence is even more of a buzz word in corporate America as the technology continues to infatuate society.

So far this earnings season, 199 companies in the S&P 500 have cited AI on calls, according to FactSet data. That surpassed the prior record of 182 set in the second quarter of 2023 to become the highest going back to at least 2014.

By comparison, the average number of company mentions over the past five years is just 80.

Among those 199 companies, "AI" came up an average of 11 times. The term was mentioned at least 50 times on the calls of 12 companies including Meta, Nvidia and Microsoft.

— Alex Harring

Stocks making the biggest moves midday

Shoppers walk in front a Ross Dress For Less store at Monroe Marketplace in Pennsylvania.
Paul Weaver | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Shoppers walk in front a Ross Dress For Less store at Monroe Marketplace in Pennsylvania.

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading:

Ross Stores The discount retailer popped nearly 10% on strong first-quarter results. Ross Stores posted earnings of $1.46 per share on $4.86 billion in revenue. That topped the earnings per share of $1.35 and $4.83 billion in revenue expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

Booz Allen Hamilton The defense contractor's shares added 3.8% on the heels of a quarterly revenue and earnings beat. Booz Allen posted adjusted earnings of $1.33 per share in its fiscal fourth quarter, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $1.23 in earnings per share. Revenue came out at $2.77 billion, slightly higher than analysts' forecast of $2.72 billion.

Coinbase Shares of the crypto services firm jumped 5% after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule change Thursday evening that opens the doors to exchange-traded funds that buy and hold ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency. Robinhood gained 3.9%.

The full list can be found here.

— Hakyung Kim

26 stocks in the S&P 500 hit new 52-week highs

During Friday's trading session, 26 stocks in the broader S&P 500 hit new 52-week highs.

Names that reached this milestone include:

On the other hand, Brown-Forman, Becton Dickinson, Bristol-Myers and Solventum were trading at new 52-week lows.

— Lisa Kailai Han, Christopher Hayes

Boeing, Home Depot lead Dow weekly losses

An exterior view of a Home Depot home improvement store. 
Paul Weaver | Lightrocket | Getty Images
An exterior view of a Home Depot home improvement store. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is on pace to lose around 2% for the week. Shares of Boeing and Home Depot, which are down 6.7% and 5.2% for the week, respectively, have pulled down the index.

Out of the 30 stocks in the Dow, only Microsoft, Walmart, IBM and Apple are positive week to date.

— Hakyung Kim

Consumer sentiment slowdown could ease inflation, says LPL Financial

The University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index results released Friday showed that consumers hold greater uncertainty about future buying plans, which could pressure spending in the summer, according to LPL Financial.

"The Fed believes the risks to the outlook are roughly in balance so inflation has to convincingly ease before the Fed cuts rates. What we learned from this final estimate from UofM is consumer spending could slow, easing up inflationary pressures from the demand side of the economy," said chief economist Jeffrey Roach.

Although the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index for May beat estimates, the reading fell on a monthly basis to the lowest level since November 2023. The final reading, posted Friday, was 69.1, versus 77.2 in April.

— Hakyung Kim

Global shipping ETF heads for sixth straight winning week

The SonicShares Global Shipping ETF (BOAT) rose on Friday, helping the fund near the end of what is shaping up to be its sixth straight positive week.

The exchange-traded fund advanced about 2% and at one point, notched a new 52-week high in Friday's session. With that, it was up 1.3% on the week.

This week's gains have helped propel the ETF higher by 14.2% this month. If that holds, this will mark the fund's best month since November 2022, when it jumped 14.3%.

— Alex Harring, Gina Francolla

Moderna, semiconductor stocks power Nasdaq toward winning week

Moderna shares have rallied 23% since the start of the week, leading the 0.7% rally in the concentrated Nasdaq 100 index.

The Nasdaq is the only major index poised for a weekly gain. Nvidia is the second-biggest winner, up nearly 13% on another strong report and guidance that showed ongoing artificial intelligence demand.

Other semiconductor stocks have skyrocketed alongside Nvidia, with Analog Devices and Qualcomm up 10.5% and about 7%, respectively. Marvell Technology and Lam Research have added about 6% each.

Temu owner PDD Holdings is poised for a 12% gain, while shares of Ross Stores have jumped more than 8%.

Walgreens Boots Alliance is the biggest laggard in the index, down more than 11% since the start of the week.

— Samantha Subin

Information technology is the only positive S&P 500 sector week to date

A worker at First Solar in Perrysburg, Ohio.
Megan Jelinger | Reuters
A worker at First Solar in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Information technology is the only S&P 500 sector poised to finish the week with gains.

The sector is up 2.3% since the start of the week, boosted by gains from semiconductor and solar stocks. First Solar is the biggest winner in the sector, up 34% week to date, while Nvidia has surged about 13%. Analog Devices is poised for an 11% rally.

Other big weekly winners include Teradyne and Qualcomm, up at least 6%. Lam Research and Enphase Energy have added at least 5%.

— Samantha Subin

Wedbush initiates Toast at outperform, thinks shares can jump nearly 20%

Wedbush thinks financial tech company Toast's strong run this year is not slowing down anytime soon.

Analyst Moshe Katri initiated coverage of Toast with an outperform rating and $30 price target, suggesting shares could jump 18.2% from Thursday's close. Shares of the company, which makes products and services targeting the restaurant industry, are up about 39% this year.

The stock added 1.4% in premarket trading Friday.

"Given TOST's robust location expansion in the U.S. (as well as nascent overseas success) and recent improvements in operating and financial metrics, we believe the company is well positioned to post 30% + YOY gross profit and adjusted EBITDA growth in CY24 and CY25, respectively," Katri said in a Thursday note. "Given the company's 340% EBITDA growth in 2024 and our expectation of 30%+ annual EBITDA growth for the foreseeable future (including in 2025), we believe such a multiple is justifiable."

Among Katri's several catalysts behind his new rating, he added that Toast is set to add more U.S. locations in 2024 and gradually increase its traction in international markets, and that management expects to reach break-even operating income by the end of the year. Toast can also leverage artificial intelligence to drive campaigns, he added.

— Pia Singh

Stocks rise slightly Friday

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on May 24, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on May 24, 2024.

U.S. stocks inched up to start off Friday's trading session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 75 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite added 0.3% each.

— Hakyung Kim

Momentum ETF at highest level since 2021

The iShares MSCI USA Momentum ETF (MTUM) hit its highest level in more than two years on Thursday despite the broad market sell-off.

The fund hit an intraday high of $191.49 per share, its highest since November 2021, and is now up 6.5% month to date.

The top performers in the fund this month include Vistra, Nvidia and Constellation Energy.

The MTUM fund is based on an index that considers six- and twelve-month price momentum. The index is rebalanced every quarter.

— Jesse Pound, Gina Francolla

Durable goods orders see unexpected increase in April

A customer walks past washers and dryers on display at a Lowe's store in Miami, Florida, on June 27, 2022.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
A customer walks past washers and dryers on display at a Lowe's store in Miami, Florida, on June 27, 2022.

Demand for long-lasting items such as appliances, cars and airplanes was much stronger than expected in April, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

Durable goods orders rose 0.7% for the month, slightly below the 0.8% increase in March but far better than the Dow Jones consensus estimate for a 1% decline. Excluding transportation items, orders still accelerated 0.4%. However, new orders were flat, excluding defense.

— Jeff Cox

Stocks making the biggest moves premarket

Check out some of the companies making headlines in premarket trading:

  • Intuit — The TurboTax parent company slipped nearly 6% after issuing weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter guidance. Intuit forecast adjusted earnings of $1.80 per share to $1.85 per share, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expected $1.92.
  • Ross Stores — The discount apparel retailer stock added more than 7% on the heels of an earnings beat. The company notched earnings of $1.46 per share on $4.86 billion in revenue, while analysts polled by LSEG forecast $1.35 in earnings per share and $4.83 billion in revenue.
  • Workday — The enterprise management company pulled back more than 11% after subscription revenue guidance for the second quarter slightly undershot analysts' estimates. Workday forecast subscription revenue of $1.895 billion, while the consensus forecast called for $1.9 billion, according to StreetAccount. Cash from operations also disappointed, coming in at $372 million, while analysts anticipated $397.2 million.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Wells Fargo praises DuPont's split plan, sees 30% upside

DuPont de Nemours' plan for a three-way split could help investors see the value of the underlying businesses, according to Wells Fargo.

Analyst Michael Sison raised his price target on the stock to $103 per share from $80. The new target is 30% above where DuPont's stock closed Thursday. Sison said in a note to clients that a combination of the split and strong fundamental performance can lead to higher valuations for the individual stocks than DuPont as a whole.

"We estimate comps for the three new entities should support multiples in the mid-to-high teens. While it could take 2 years to execute the transaction, volume growth for each of the businesses should accelerate early on in an economic recovery, which tends to drive out performance for chemical companies," the note said.

— Jesse Pound

SEC approves rule change to pave way for ether ETFs

Omar Marques | Lightrocket | Getty Images

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a change that opens the door for exchange-traded funds that can own cryptocurrency ether. The change comes less than six months after the SEC greenlit bitcoin ETFs. Ether prices initially rose on the news, but were last down 2% at $3,702.11.

— Fred Imbert

OPEC+ to meet virtually on June 2 for policy talks

The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, Austria, on July 6, 2023.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The logo of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna, Austria, on July 6, 2023.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, will meet virtually on June 2 to determine the next steps of their crude production policy, the OPEC Secretariat said Friday.

OPEC countries will hold a separate video conference meeting that same day.

OPEC+ was previously set to meet on June 1 in Vienna. Coalition delegates, who could only speak anonymously because of the sensitivity of group discussions, had signaled to CNBC growing uncertainty in recent days over whether the reunion would not be moved to a virtual format.

The influential oil producers' alliance is currently slated to continue cutting two million barrels per day of crude output until the end of this year, under its formal policy. Separately, a subset of OPEC+ nations including heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia announced voluntary reductions: one set comprising 1.66 million barrels per day, stretching until the end of the year, and a second round of cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day lasting until the end of the second quarter.

Market participants are closely watching whether these second-quarter voluntary cuts will be extended, while supply security concerns linger amid ongoing conflict in the oil-rich Middle East.

The Ice Brent futures contract with July expiry was trading down 4 cents per barrel to $81.32 per barrel at 9:19 a.m. London time, with the front-month July Nymex WTI contract lower by 9 cents per barrel at $76.78 per barrel.

Ruxandra Iordache

Europe stocks open lower

Europe's stock markets opened lower on Friday, with the regional Stoxx 600 index down 0.74% in early deals.

Germany's DAX fell 0.9%, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 were down 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

— Jenni Reid

Samsung Electronics shares fall after report that its HBM chips have yet to pass Nvidia tests

A Samsung Electronics 12-layer HBM3E and other DDR modules arranged in Seoul, South Korea, on April 4, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A Samsung Electronics 12-layer HBM3E and other DDR modules arranged in Seoul, South Korea, on April 4, 2024.

Samsung Electronics shares fell 2.3% after Reuters reported that the South Korean tech giant's latest high bandwidth memory, or HBM, chips are not yet ready for use by U.S. chipmaker Nvidia.

Three people briefed on the problems told Reuters there were heat and power consumption issues with Samsung's chips.

The problems were related to the company's fourth-generation HBM3 chip, which are most widely used for graphics processing units for AI, and the next-generation HBM3E chips that Samsung and its rivals are releasing to the market this year, according to the report.

Samsung shares weighed down the broader Kospi, which fell 1.05%.

Nvidia reported late on Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter revenue more than tripled and its data center business grew 427% from a year earlier.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Japan inflation slows, consumer prices in April rose 2.5%

Japan's inflation eased slightly to 2.5% in April, lower than the 2.7% seen in March and marking a second straight month of slowing inflation.

Core inflation, which excludes prices of fresh food, also slowed to 2.2% from 2.6%, in line with expectations.

The so-called "core-core" inflation rate — which strips out both fresh food and energy prices and is considered by the Bank of Japan when formulating monetary policy — saw the sharpest fall to 2.4% in April from 2.9% the month before.

— Lim Hui Jie

Investor bullishness hit a 6-week high ahead of Thursday's slump

The percentage of investors who were bullish about the outlook for stocks over the next six months rose to a six-week high in the latest week, according to the American Association of Individual Investors.

Bullishness climbed to 47% in the latest AAII poll, up from 40.9% last week, and stood above the historic average of 37.5% for the 28th week in 29, a stretch that goes back to the market low last October and the start of the current bull market.

Bearish opinion about the next six months rose to 26.3% this week from 23.3% last week, the third time in six weeks it was below the historic average of 31%.

Neutral sentiment that the market will be little changed over the next six months fell to 26.6% from 35.9% last week, and below the historic average of 31.5%.

Investor sentiment readings are viewed as a contrarian indicator, the idea being that when too many investors say they are optimistic, most have finished buying and cash reserves have dwindled. Conversely, when sentiment is decidedly bearish, it can mean most of the selling is done and cash reserves have grown.

— Scott Schnipper

Apparel and footwear sales show signs of life

Visitors try on shoes at the Hoka booth during the 2020 Shanghai Sports Show at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, China, on Nov. 27, 2020.
VCG | Getty Images
Visitors try on shoes at the Hoka booth during the 2020 Shanghai Sports Show at Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai, China, on Nov. 27, 2020.

Even as many retailers talk about discretionary spending headwinds, apparel and footwear brands seem to be defying the odds this season.  

In this afternoon's earnings report, Ross Stores said same-store sales rose 3% in the latest quarter, in line with both the company's guidance and Wall Street's expectations. That comes after numerous apparel names have reported positive comps: Ralph Lauren up 6%, Urban Outfitters up 2.6% and TJX up 3.5%. Even Target remarked that apparel was a bright spot despite posting an overall sales decline.

Meanwhile, stronger-than-expected HOKA and UGG sales propelled a big earnings and revenue beat for Deckers this afternoon. Overall revenues jumped 21% from the year-ago quarter. Even at the other end of the spectrum, earlier this morning, Shoe Carnival said sales were up 6%. That was higher than the company expected and ahead of analysts' estimates, too.

Robert Hum

Stocks making the biggest moves after hours

Check out some of the companies making headlines in extended trading:

  • Ross Stores — Shares of the discount clothing store jumped 7%. Ross Stores reported first-quarter earnings of $1.46 per share on revenue of $4.86 billion. Analysts polled by LSEG anticipated earnings of $1.35 per share and revenue of $4.83 billion.
  • Workday — The enterprise management company pulled back 10% after the company's subscription revenue guidance missed Wall Street estimates. Workday expects second-quarter subscription revenue guidance of $1.895 billion, while consensus forecasts called for $1.9 billion, per StreetAccount.
  • Intuit — The owner of TurboTax fell 7% on soft guidance for the current quarter. Intuit called for fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.80 to $1.85 per share, while analysts polled by FactSet predicted $1.92 per share. Fiscal-third quarter results beat the Street's expectations on the top and bottom lines, however.

Read the full list here.

— Brian Evans

Coinbase jumps after hours as SEC opens the door to ether ETFs

The logo for Coinbase Global Inc., the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is displayed on the Nasdaq MarketSite jumbotron and others at Times Square in New York on April 14, 2021.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
The logo for Coinbase Global Inc., the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is displayed on the Nasdaq MarketSite jumbotron and others at Times Square in New York on April 14, 2021.

Coinbase advanced 5% in extended trading after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a rule change that would pave the way for ETFs that buy and hold ether. Robinhood gained 2%.

While both companies offer cryptocurrency trading, Coinbase could stand to benefit more from the introduction of ether ETFs as it offers a slew of other crypto services, including custody and staking, as well as a larger selection of tradeable assets. Coinbase also operates a blockchain, called Base, that is built on the Ethereum network.

The price of ether rose just 2% Thursday evening. Earlier in the week, it rallied more than 20% over two days on investor optimism around the SEC's decision, and it is now on pace for its best week in more than a year.

Read more about how ether ETFs could benefit Coinbase on CNBC Pro.

— Tanaya Macheel, Jesse Pound

Stock futures are little changed Thursday

Stock futures were little changed on Thursday after all three major indexes ended regular trading lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching its worst session since March 2023.

Futures tied to the 30-stock Dow slipped 4 points, or 0.01%. S&P 500 futures ticked up 0.03%, while Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.05%.

— Brian Evans

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