Wall Street Extends Gains, Apple Jumps To Highest Since February: What's Moving Markets Friday?

Wall Street kept driving equity valuations higher on Friday, extending the momentum from Thursday when all major U.S. benchmarks closed at record highs following the Federal Reserve's rate cut.

Tech continued to outperform, fueled by ongoing AI enthusiasm. The Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, and Dow Jones each advanced 0.5%, 0.3%, and 0.2%, respectively, setting fresh peaks. The Russell 2000, however—after breaking its November 2024 high the previous day—slipped 0.4%.

President Donald Trump said he had a "very productive" call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, adding he plans to visit China early next year, with Xi expected to make a reciprocal trip to the U.S. at a later date.

Among mega-cap movers, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) jumped 3.1% on strong demand for the new iPhone 17. In China, preorders topped those of the iPhone 16 in just one minute. Apple shares climbed above $245, reaching their highest level since late February 2025.

Intel Corp. (NYSE:INTC) slipped 2.5% after soaring 23% on Thursday, when Nvidia announced a $5 billion deal to buy a 5% stake in the company.

Precious metals regained momentum on rate-cut expectations. Gold rose 0.7% to $3,670, while silver rallied more than 2% to $42.67—its fifth straight monthly gain.

Cryptocurrencies reversed Thursday's blowout surge. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) fell 1% to around $116,000, and Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) tumbled 4.5%.

Friday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
• Nasdaq 100	24,575.53	0.5%
• S&P 500	6,653.73	0.3%
• Dow Jones	46,254.56	0.2%
• Russell 2000	2,451.19	-0.7%

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:VOO) rose 0.3% to $610.62.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) inched 0.1% higher to $462.34.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) rose 0.5% to $598.19.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) slipped to $243.41.
• The Technology  Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) outperformed, up 0.7%; the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) lagged, down 1.4%.

S&P 500’s Top 5 Movers

Stock name	% change
Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES)	+5.69%
Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ:PARA)	+5.15%
Newmont Corporation (NYSE:NEM)	+4.20%
Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE:UBER)	+3.99%
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE:PLTR)	+3.74%

S&P 500’s Top 5 Losers

Stock name	% change
DexCom Inc. (NASDAQ:DXCM)	-9.85%
Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM)	-5.10%
Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG)	-4.51%
Hologic Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX)	-4.12%
Texas Pacific Land Corp. (NYSE:TPL)	-3.93%

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