US stocks ended a huge week on a mediocre note, but investors on Wall Street are still likely popping champagne bottles as they close out one of the strongest weeks of the year for markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 306 points, or 0.7%, on Friday.
Investors were hoping that the index would surpass the 40,000 threshold level, a feat it has managed twice in premarket trading. But it has yet to pull it off during regular trading hours.
Still, the blue-chip index notched its best week since December. All three major indexes finished two consecutive sessions at record highs on Wednesday and Thursday and the tech-heavy Nasdaq set a third record on Friday, at 16,428.82.
The S&P 500 fell 0.1% on Friday and the Nasdaq was 0.2% higher.
All three indexes had a winning week: The S&P 500 rose 2.3%, the Dow was up about 2% and the Nasdaq gained 2.9%.
A surge in artificial intelligence stocks fueled two new record highs across the three major indexes this week, along with fresh projections from the Federal Reserve that the US economy will see three interest rate cuts before the year is out.
In corporate news, it’s been a rough day for performance wear.
Shares of Lululemon slid nearly 15.8% after the company issued weak forward guidance. The athletic-wear company registered its worst day since March 2020. Shares of Nike also dropped 6.9% after it reported that sales were slowing in China and also adjusted its forward guidance.
Reddit entered its second official day of trading with a downward adjustment — shares were down about 8.5% after springing 48% higher following its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
Apple investors appeared to be relatively unbothered by a Department of Justice antitrust suit brought against the iPhone maker on Thursday. Shares were about 0.5% higher.
Investors also approved a deal on Friday to make Truth Social owner Trump Media a publicly traded company.
The green light from shareholders clears a major hurdle for a long-delayed merger that will generate a multibillion-dollar windfall for former President Donald Trump at a time when he’s facing immense financial and legal pressure. However, it’s not likely to help his legal woes.
According to a preliminary vote total announced during the meeting, a majority of shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. voted in favor of the deal to merge with Trump Media. The companies have indicated the merger could close as soon as early next week.
But not all shareholders appeared to be in an approving mood. Digital World Acquisition Corp. sank 13.7% on Friday.
