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US stocks finished Friday higher across the major indices, giving buyers a stronger finish to the trading week. The Dow led the way with a 423-point gain, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.64% and the S&P 500 rose 0.59%.
Under the surface, software and cybersecurity stocks attracted buyers. Snowflake, Datadog, Palantir, and Palo Alto Networks were among the standout gainers. The semiconductor picture was more uneven, with Arm, Intel, AMD, and Super Micro Computer finishing lower despite the broader market’s advance.
For the week, the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, and Dow all finished higher. The Nasdaq extended its weekly winning streak to four, while the Dow recorded its biggest weekly percentage gain since the week ended August 7.
The closing numbers
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Dow Industrial Average: Up 423.06 points, or 0.83%, to 51,660.18.
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S&P 500: Up 46.18 points, or 0.59%, to 7,811.54.
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Nasdaq Composite: Up 172.83 points, or 0.64%, to 27,366.17.
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Russell 2000: Up 12.85 points, or 0.46%, to 2,806.98.
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Nasdaq 100: Up 157.34 points, or 0.51%, to 30,883.15.
For the trading week
The weekly changes for the major indices showed:
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Dow Industrial Average: Up 0.93%.
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S&P 500: Up 1.15%.
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Nasdaq Composite: Up 0.64%.
The Nasdaq’s four consecutive weekly gains mark its longest winning run since the six-week streak that ended May 8.
So despite the selling seen earlier in the week, buyers were able to preserve another weekly advance. They made a play into the Friday close. The next question is whether they can build on it.
Software stocks stand out among the winners
Moderna led the supplied list of gainers with a 14.21% surge. There were also some sizable advances across software, cybersecurity, and selected technology names:
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Moderna: Up 14.21%.
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Snowflake: Up 7.42%.
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Ambarella: Up 7.23%.
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Datadog: Up 7.11%.
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Roblox: Up 5.62%.
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Ciena: Up 5.58%.
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Alibaba: Up 5.36%.
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Palantir: Up 5.17%.
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Palo Alto Networks: Up 5.09%.
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Oracle: Up 4.69%.
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CrowdStrike: Up 4.57%.
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Coinbase: Up 4.30%.
Those gains comfortably outpaced the broader indices. Software and cybersecurity provided several pockets of strength, while Ambarella’s advance stood out against declines in a number of other chip-related shares.
The rally did not lift every stock
AT&T was the biggest decliner on the supplied list, falling nearly 10%. Deere also came under pressure, while several semiconductor and hardware names moved lower:
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AT&T: Down 9.85%.
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Hess Midstream Partners: Down 5.10%.
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Deere: Down 4.85%.
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Chipotle Mexican Grill: Down 3.37%.
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Arm: Down 3.27%.
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Intel: Down 2.22%.
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3M: Down 2.22%.
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Super Micro Computer: Down 2.13%.
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AMD: Down 2.03%.
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Netflix: Down 1.77%.
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SanDisk: Down 1.71%.
The divergence within technology is worth watching. Buyers were active in several software names, but that enthusiasm did not extend uniformly across the semiconductor group.
A trading lesson: Follow the index, then check your stock
A higher Nasdaq gives traders useful context. It does not guarantee that every technology stock will move higher with it.
Today, Snowflake and Datadog gained more than 7%, while Arm and AMD declined. Same market. Very different results.
For an individual trade, let that stock’s own price action define the bias and risk. Identify its support, resistance, and moving averages. Then watch whether the price can get above or below those levels and stay there.
The broader market helps set the backdrop. Your stock still has to confirm the trade.
This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.
