Wall Street Update: S&P 500 Rises 0.51%, Nasdaq Gains 0.48%

Wall Street ended higher on Friday, with Microsoft and other artificial intelligence-linked stocks lifting the major US indices. Gains in technology shares helped the market close a volatile week on a firmer note.

The S&P 500 rose 39.28 points, or 0.51%, to finish at 7,743.41. The Nasdaq Composite added 129.34 points, or 0.48%, to 27,068.72, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 478.64 points, or 0.93%, to 51,828.62.

What Lifted Wall Street’s Performance On The Day?

Microsoft shares rallied after the software company unveiled new capabilities for its Copilot application, including a coding tool and an always-on AI agent.

Akamai Technologies was another major mover, surging after announcing an $11.6 billion cloud services deal with AI company Anthropic. The agreement also includes a warrant that could give Anthropic a stake of up to 5% in Akamai.

Chipmaker Qualcomm and Dell also advanced, while Meta Platforms slipped. Meta shares have gained about 13% this week following a positive reception to its Muse AI agent.

What Happened To S&P 500 Valuations?

The S&P 500 traded at just under 19 times expected earnings during the week, marking its lowest valuation since 2023.

AI-focused companies have been largely responsible for the upward trend in earnings estimates in the recent past, in global as well as Indian markets. This makes artificial intelligence spending and its impact on company profits important for the overall market performance.

Why Are Investors Still Cautious?

Despite the gains in equities, higher oil prices and rising Treasury yields remained concerns for investors.

Brent crude prices eased but stayed above $100 a barrel. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note reached a fresh 19-year high and was last up 3.4 basis points at 5.196%.

Markets were also watching developments around the US-Iran conflict and negotiations over a possible phased path out of the war.

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