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 The Nasdaq Composite added 0.71 percent to end at 5,092.09, its
second straight record high close. The S&P 500 rose 0.23 percent to
a record high close of 2,117.69 points, barely above its previous
high of 2,117.39 set on March 2.
Amazon <AMZN.O> surged 14.13 percent to a lifetime high after
revenue beat estimates.
Google <GOOGL.O> ended 2.9 percent after reporting higher quarterly
results while Microsoft <MSFT.O> jumped 10.45 percent after it
topped estimates.
The S&P had hit an intraday high of 2,120.92. The Nasdaq earlier
reached 5,100.371, the highest since its intraday record of 5,132.52
in March 2000 that marked the peak of the dot-com bubble.
“This chapter that the Nasdaq is writing is more suggestive that
it's a market that, while still technology-weighted, is much more
mature," said Steven Baffico, chief executive officer at Four Wood
Capital Partners in New York. "The companies in it reflect that,
companies like Cisco and Microsoft.”
Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Starbucks accounted for the bulk of
the Nasdaq's rise on Friday.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> closed up 21.45 points, or
0.12 percent, to 18,080.14. The S&P 500 <.SPX> gained 4.76 points
and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 36.02 points.
For the week, the S&P gained 1.8 percent, the Nasdaq gained 3.3
percent and the Dow added 1.4 percent.
"This is a case of the equity market looking a little bit forward to
oil being less of a drag going forward, and that earnings in the
second half will be better than they are now," said Anthony Valeri,
an investment strategist for LPL Financial in San Diego.
While markets are at record highs, March-quarter earnings of S&P 500
companies are expected to dip 1.3 percent, with revenues dropping
3.5 percent as the dollar hurts U.S. multinationals and low oil
prices affect energy companies, according to Thomson Reuters data.
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Xerox <XRX.N> slumped 8.75 percent after it cut its 2015 profit
forecast, blaming the strong dollar.
Time Warner Cable <TWC.N> jumped 4.37 percent on news Charter
Communications Inc's <CHTR.O> representatives reached out to begin
discussions on a potential merger. Comcast earlier abandoned its
proposed $45 billion merger with Time Warner Cable.
Apple <AAPL.O> could be among the biggest market drivers when it
reports results after the bell on Monday. Results next week from
several big energy names, including Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> and Chevron
<CVX.N>, could keep investors on edge. Wall Street may get new clues
on the timing of an interest rate hike when the Federal Reserve
issues a statement following its two-day meeting on Wednesday.
NYSE advancers outnumbered decliners 1,532 to 1,426, for a 1.07-to-1
ratio; on the Nasdaq, 1,456 issues fell and 1,246 advanced, for a
1.17-to-1 ratio favoring decliners. The S&P 500 posted 17 new
52-week highs and 1 new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 88 new
highs and 19 new lows.
About 6.2 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, on par
with the daily average for the month to date, according to BATS
Global Markets.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich, additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal;
Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Nick Zieminski)
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