Markets Mixed at Friday Finish



The S&P 500 erased earlier gains and finished Friday near the flatline as the tech sector came under pressure again amid another drop in bitcoin price.

The Dow Jones Industrials came down from its daily highs, but still surged 123.69 points to close Friday at 34,207.84, thanks to a jump in Boeing shares.

The S&P 500 dropped 3.26 points to 4,155.86.

The NASDAQ tumbled 64.75 points to 13,470.99.

For the week, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% to register for its first back-to-back weekly losses since February. The blue-chip Dow dipped 0.5% on the week, while the NASDAQ eked out a 0.3% gain this week, breaking a four-week losing streak.

Shares of Nvidia jumped 2.6% after the chip giant announced a 4-for-1 stock split. The shares increased even though the split adds no actual value to the stock.

Ford, which said it has 20,000 reservations for its new electric F-150 pickup, gained 6.7%. Home Depot shares rose 0.7% after the retailer announced a new $20 billion share buyback program.

In another sign of market confidence, new IPO Oatly, which jumped 18% on Thursday in its NASDAQ debut, jumped more than 11% on Friday.

Boosting sentiment Friday was a gauge for U.S. manufacturing activity that surged to a record high this month. The IHS Markit Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index jumped to an all-time high of 61.5 in May from 60.5 in April. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected the index to hold steady.

Bitcoin, which shook markets earlier in the week with a 30% collapse, was stable for a second day around the $40,000 range. Crypto-linked shares rose again on Friday with Tesla and Coinbase gaining 1% each.

Prices for 10-Year Treasurys gained back lost ground, lowering yields to Thursday’s 1.63%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Oil prices jumped $1.91 to $63.85 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices lost $1.60 to $1,880.30 U.S. an ounce.