Stocks jump; Apple hits an all-time high, boosting tech
U.S. stocks made up for a shaky week with a strong finish Friday as Apple led a rally in technology companies. The tech giant hit an all-time high after Warren Buffett said he had made another big investment in it.
Stocks had a mixed start after trade talks between the United States and China ended with few signs of progress. The April jobs report showed that hiring continued at a solid clip and wages continued to grow at a slow pace. Apple surged after Buffett said his firm, Berkshire Hathaway, bought 75 million Apple shares during the first quarter.
Alphabet, Cisco Systems and other technology companies rose, and retailers, banks and household goods makers also rallied. Investors also cheered strong first-quarter results from firms such as Shake Shack and Activision Blizzard.
“We went into this earnings season with very high expectations,” said Quincy Krosby, chief markets strategist for Prudential Financial. “When you go in with such high expectations, you expect near perfection.”
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 33.69 points, or 1.3%, to 2,663.42. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 332.36 points, or 1.4%, to 24,262.51. The Nasdaq composite jumped 121.47 points, or 1.7%, to 7,209.62. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks advanced 19.05 points, or 1.2%, to 1,565.60.
Overall, stocks have taken small losses in choppy trading over the last two weeks. But for Apple, this was the best week in more than six years.
Apple rose 3.9% to $183.83 after Buffett told CNBC that his company boosted its investment in Apple to a total of more than 240 million shares. Buffett told CNBC about the purchase ahead of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting this weekend. Berkshire Hathaway stock rose 2.1% to $195.64. For the week, Apple jumped 13.3%.
Companies have posted good first-quarter results, but stocks haven’t necessarily followed suit as investors worried about the U.S.China trade spat, rising interest rates and other issues. But on Friday, investors responded.
After better-than-expected reports, burger chain Shake Shack surged 18% to $55.95, and music-streaming company Pandora Media leaped 19.8% to $6.89. Video game maker Activision Blizzard climbed 4.5% to $69.84. The stock had slipped Thursday afternoon after Activision’s results were released early.
Engineering and construction company Fluor plunged 22.4% to $45.76 after it slashed its profit forecast because a gas-fired power project suffered “continued challenges.”
Bond prices rose early, then gave up that gain. The yield on the two-year Treasury note rose to 2.49% from 2.48%. The yield on the 10year Treasury note remained at 2.95%. That helped banks recover from an early loss. Lower bond yields mean lower rates for mortgages and other types of loans, which reduces profits for banks. Companies that pay big dividends didn’t rise as much as the rest of the market.
Benchmark U.S. crude rose 1.9% to $69.72 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.7% to $74.87 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline jumped 1.3% to $2.11 a gallon. Heating oil climbed 2% to $2.15 a gallon. Natural gas fell 0.6% to $2.71 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Gold rose 0.2% to $1,314.70 an ounce. Silver rose 0.4% to $16.52 an ounce. Copper rose 0.2% to $3.09 a pound.
The dollar fell to 109.11 yen from 109.73 yen. The euro fell to $1.1962 from $1.1993.