S&P 500 Clocks Best Weekly Rally Since 2023, Dow Hits Fresh Record As US-Iran Peace Hope Boosts Risk Sentiment - UBER, GILD, RDDT, FJET, AMD In Focus

• The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones rose 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively, and the Nasdaq gained 0.2%.
• A Qatari team flew into Tehran in coordination with the U.S. to help secure an agreement to end the conflict.
• Kevin Warsh gets sworn in as the new Federal Reserve Chair.

U.S. benchmark stock indices inched higher on Friday as hopes around the U.S.-Iran peace deal aided investors to make riskier bets, pushing the S&P 500 to record its longest streak of weekly gains since 2023.  

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Nasdaq gained 0.2%, and the Dow Jones jumped 0.6% to hit its record highs for the second consecutive session. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalizations, inched 0.8% higher, gaining for the third consecutive session. 

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) rose 0.4%, and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ended Friday around 0.4% higher, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.7%. 

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) rose 1.4%, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) hit record highs on Friday.  

Meanwhile, retail sentiment on Stocktwits for SPY, QQQ, and DIA was all in the ‘extremely bullish’ territory with ‘extremely high’ message volumes.  

US Market Drivers

Iran stated that the latest U.S. proposal has helped bring the two sides closer to a deal, but added that it is reviewing the terms put forth by the United States.

However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that any such deal would be infeasible if Iran attempts to permanently control the Strait of Hormuz by imposing tolls.

“No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system. It can’t happen; it would be unacceptable. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that,” he said.

The week has been marked by IPO reports from Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX, strong earnings from corporate America, and a $2 billion push by the Trump administration toward the quantum computing sector, with IBM as the top beneficiary. IBM shares recorded their best week since October 2002. 

The fact that equities are gaining ahead of a three-day weekend in the US tells us quite a bit about traders’ attitudes toward risk, Steve Sosnick at Interactive Brokers told Bloomberg.

“In a more risk-averse environment, we might expect traders to pare risk and square positions,” he said. “Instead, they are quite willing to add to long positions, implying that they are unwilling to risk missing a peace-dividend rally.”

Oil settled modestly higher Friday but was off the peaks reached earlier in the week, as traders hoped a resolution to the war in Iran could be reached soon. International Brent crude futures added 0.9% to close at $103.54 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude inched up about 0.3% to settle at $96.60.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield shed nearly 3 basis points as of Friday. The 30-year bond yield also fell by more than 4 basis points but remained above the 5% mark. 

"Prior episodes where commodities have risen this high and fast were near major tops and persisted a while longer, making this quite a bearish indicator," said Ned Davis Research in a note on Friday. 

In other news, President Donald Trump led a ceremony swearing in Kevin Warsh as the 17th chair of the Federal Reserve.

Trending Stocks To Watch 

Uber (UBER): Shares of Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER) were in the spotlight on Friday after a Bloomberg report said the company is considering a full takeover of Delivery Hero SE to challenge U.S. rival DoorDash Inc. (DASH) in global markets. 

Gilead Sciences (GILD): Shares gained nearly 3% on Friday and were set to record their best day in about three months after Federal regulators granted accelerated approval to Hepcludex, making it the first and only approved treatment in the U.S. for adults with chronic hepatitis delta virus infection.  

Reddit (RDDT): Shares dropped on Friday after Meta Platforms quietly released a new standalone app called "Forum," which behaves as a direct competitor to Reddit. 

Starfighters Space (FJET): The company received a significant equity investment from institutional investors as the sector continues to see an uptick, fueled by broader optimism about SpaceX’s plans to become publicly listed. 

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD): According to a report by Nikkei Asia, AMD CEO Lisa Su said on Friday that she expects the central processing unit (CPU) market to grow by 35% annually over the next five years, driven by AI demand. 

Read More: GILD Stock Jumps After Winning Accelerated FDA Approval For HDV Treatment.

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.