Stocks rose on Friday after December’s revised inflation reading came in lower than first reported, and the S&P 500 closed above the key 5,000 level as strong earnings and economic news chugged on.
The S&P 500 rose 0.57% to end at 5,026.61, while the Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.25% to close at 15,990.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 54.64 points, or 0.14%, to settle at 38,671.69.
For the week, the S&P added 1.4%, while the Nasdaq gained 2.3%. The Dow finished flat. All three major averages notched their fifth straight winning week and 14th positive week in 15.
“At the end of the day, we’re still seeing whopping good news on an economic front, and the market is reacting to that,” said Dana D’Auria, co-chief investment officer at Envestnet. “The longer that story plays out, the more likely it seems to the market that we actually are sticking a landing here.”
A solid earnings season, easing inflation data and a resilient economy have charged 2024’s market rally. It’s also propelled the S&P to close above the 5,000 level after first touching the milestone during Thursday’s session. The index first crossed 4,000 in April 2021.
S&P 500
“A close above this closely watched level will undoubtedly create headlines and further feed fear of missing out (FOMO) emotions,” said Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist at LPL Financial. “Outside of a potential sentiment boost, round numbers such as 5,000 often provide a psychological area of support or resistance for the market.”
A revision lower in December’s consumer price index also helped sentiment. The government adjusted the figure to a 0.2% increase, down from a 0.3% increase initially reported. Core inflation figures, excluding food and energy, were the same. January’s CPI figures are due out next week.
Megacap technology stocks gained again on Friday, contributing to the S&P’s march above 5,000. Nvidia jumped 3.6%, and Alphabet added more than 2%. Cloudflare skyrocketed 19.5% on strong earnings, boosting the broader cloud sector in tandem. Semiconductor stocks also rose, with the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) edging up 2.2%.
The back half of the fourth-quarter earnings reporting period pressed on, with PepsiCo falling 3.6% on mixed results. Take-Two Interactive slumped 8.7% on a disappointing outlook, while Pinterest dropped 9.5% after issuing a weaker-than-expected forecast and missing revenue estimates.
Despite these negative prints, earnings have so far proven more robust than expected. A total of 332 S&P companies have reported results, with about 81% of them reporting earnings above analyst expectations, according to LSEG. That compares to a 67% beat rate in a typical quarter since 1994.
