Tech companies lead stocks higher, still post weekly losses

S&P 500 still less than 1 percent from all-time high set on Monday

Technology companies led stocks broadly higher on Wall Street Friday, though the gains were not enough to erase the market’s losses from earlier in the week.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.8 percent, but still posted a weekly loss of 0.6 percent after two weeks of gains. Even so, the benchmark index is less than 1 percent from the all-time high it set Monday.

More than 80 percent of S&P 500 companies notched gains, including tech sector stocks. Microsoft rose 2.6 percent and chipmaker Nvidia gained 5.1 percent for the biggest gain in the index. A mix of companies that rely on consumer spending and communications stocks also made up a big share of the rally. Energy stocks also rose, despite another decline in the price of U.S. crude oil. Treasury yields mostly rose.

Investors turned cautious this week following some disappointing economic reports on retail sales, housing and consumer sentiment. Escalating coronavirus infections across the U.S. and around the globe due to the highly contagious delta variant have also given traders reason to pause with the market near all-time highs.

“Today was the first day that the market didn’t have to deal with disappointing economic data,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at All Star Charts. “We also need to remember it’s a Friday in August, not typically an environment where we look for big signals out of the market.”

The S&P 500 rose 35.87 points to 4,441.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 225.96 points, or 0.7 percent, to 35,120.08. The Nasdaq composite picked up 172.87 points, or 1.2 percent, to 14,714.66. The Dow and Nasdaq also posted weekly losses.

Small company stocks recovered some of their losses from earlier in the week. The Russell 2000 index added 35.18 points, or 1.7 percent, to 2,167.60. The index still finished with a 2.5 percent weekly drop.

Bond trading was quiet. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.26 percent from 1.24 percent late Thursday.

With earnings season winding down, investors got to see quarterly report cards from mostly retailers this week.