S&P 500 Jumps For Ninth Week, Longest Since 2023 With DELL Leading Nasdaq To Record Highs, While Positive US-Iran Ceasefire Bets Aid Dow — UMG, COIN, MNKD, ASTC, ASTS In Focus

• The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, and the Dow Jones gained 0.7%, while the Nasdaq 100 added 0.4%.
• Brent oil settled around $92 a barrel, and U.S. Treasuries saw their best week since the war began.  
• Dell stock jumped 33%, its best day on record.

U.S. benchmark stock indices ended at record highs on Friday, with the S&P 500 gaining for the ninth consecutive session as signs of easing U.S.-Iran tensions, while Dell hit its best day, week, and month on record.

The S&P 500 ended 0.2% higher, the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.4%, and the Dow Jones inched 0.7% higher on Friday, all hitting record highs, as per data from Koyfin. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalization, slipped 0.6% after hitting record highs in the previous session. 

Among ETFs tracking benchmark indexes, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) ended Thursday around 0.2% and 0.4% higher, respectively. The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) gained 0.6%. 

All the above ETFs ended the week at record highs. 

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) dropped 0.2%. 

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

The artificial intelligence play remained at the forefront of investor attention this week, with Dell leading gains, hitting its best week and month on record. Micron (MU) and Qualcomm (QCOM) have also gained about 88% and 40%, respectively, this month. 

The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLK) hit a new 52-week high Friday, moving up nearly 20% on the month.

“Dell is like the poster child for [the] AI broadening earning story,” David Nicholas, CEO and founder of XFUNDs by Nicholas Wealth, told CNBC in an interview. “We started with chips, memory, but it’s really now about the broad kind of AI infrastructure stack.”

President Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social he was ready to make a “final determination” on an agreement to extend the ceasefire.  Trump also insisted that Iran “must agree that they will never have a Nuclear Weapon” and the Strait of Hormuz must be “immediately open.” 

Action in Treasuries was muted on Friday, but the market was set for its best weekly performance since late February.  

“The recent pullback in oil prices is helping to ease some of those worries,” said Angelo Kourkafas at Edward Jones to Bloomberg in an interview. “However, with inflation moving further away from the Fed’s 2% target and labor-market trends stabilizing or even improving, policymakers may begin to shift away from their easing bias at the June meeting.” 

Trending Stocks To Watch 

Universal Music Group (UMGNF): The firm rejected an unsolicited offer from Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, saying it’s not in the best interest of its shareholders or artists. 

Coinbase (COIN): Shares gained after a top U.S. regulator opened the door to crypto “perpetual” futures trading.  

MannKind (MNKD): Shares gained about 5% on Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the expanded use of Afrezza, making it the first and only needle-free, inhaled mealtime insulin available for children and adolescents living with diabetes.  

Astrotech  (ASTC): Shares added 10% on Friday to end its best week on record since the company announced its plans earlier this week to focus on lunar-based research and infrastructure development.   

AST SpaceMobile (ASTS): Shares tumbled nearly 18% in Friday morning’s trade, with analysts expressing concerns that the “catastrophic” explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket could set back ASTS’s launch target this year. 

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