Apple shares jumped to a record-high closing price Friday, buoyed by a wide-ranging stock market rally that also fueled a record high for the Nasdaq Composite Index on the heels of a robust national jobs report.
Cupertino-based Apple closed at $179.98, up 1.7 percent for the day.
Highlighting the technology sector’s strength, the Nasdaq Composite Index, paced by tech shares, rocketed 1.8 percent higher Friday to a record closing high of 7,560.81.
The broad-based S&P 500 Index jumped 1.7 percent and the closely watched Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 440.53 points, up 1.8 percent.
U.S. employers added 313,000 jobs in February, more than forecast, and wages didn’t rise as much as investors had feared, the Labor Department said Friday.
Apple’s stock performance contrasted sharply with its disappointing showing in early February, when its stock tumbled into correction territory by closing Feb. 8 at $155.15, 13.4 percent below a recent previous high of $179.26.
Since the lows of February, however, Apple has climbed steadily and gained 16 percent.
Apple continues to reap profits at a brisk pace. Over the 12 months that ended Dec. 30, Apple earned $50.52 billion on revenue of $239.18 billion, according to the Yahoo Finance site.
The other companies that, with Apple, make up the 10 largest tech companies in Silicon Valley, also posted sturdy stock gains Friday.
Mountain View-based Alphabet, which owns Google, soared 2.8 percent; Santa Clara-based Intel hopped 2.9 percent higher; Palo Alto-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise gained 1.1 percent; and Palo Alto-based HP rocketed 2.9 percent higher.
San Jose-based Cisco Systems climbed 2.3 percent, Redwood City-based Oracle rose 1.6 percent, Foster City-based Gilead Sciences edged up 0.8 percent, while Menlo Park-based Facebook gained 1.6 percent.
Fremont-based Synnex, a technology services provider, was the big winner among the 10 largest tech companies in Silicon Valley, zooming 5.6 percent higher.
Los Gatos-based Netflix also was embraced by eager buyers. The video streaming service climbed 4.6 percent following reports that former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama were in discussions with Netflix about developing a television series.
Among non-technology companies, San Ramon-based Chevron soared 3.4 percent higher, Dublin-based Ross Stores jumped 2.4 percent, and San Francisco-based Wells Fargo climbed 2.7 percent. However, Oakland-based Clorox fell 1.1 percent.
