The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,800.60 on Friday with a gain of 297.03 points or 0.89%. The S&P 500 closed at 4,128.80 for a gain of 31.63 points or 0.77%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 13,900.19 for a gain of 70.88 points or 0.51%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 16.69 for a loss of 0.26 points or -1.53%.
Friday's Market Movers
The major U.S. indexes finished the week with gains on Friday. For the week, the Nasdaq gained 3.1%, the S&P 500 gained 2.7% and the Dow Jones gained 1.9%. So far this year, the S&P 500 has a gain of 9.9%, the Dow Jones is up 10.39% and the Nasdaq has a return of 7.81%.
The S&P 500 technology sector gained Friday with news that worldwide personal computer sales were up 55% in the first quarter of 2021. Apple (AAPL, Financial) also gained 2.02% with a report that its 5G iPhone 12 led smartphone sales overall in January.
In the semiconductor market, investors and companies continued to look hopefully to U.S. President Joe Biden's infrastructure stimulus plans, which include $50 billion for the semiconductor industry. The iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF (SOXX, Financial) was down -0.31% Friday. Ford (F, Financial), General Motors (GM, Financial) and Intel (INTC, Financial) will talk with the Biden Administration about chip shortages. Several companies have slowed production levels due to global chip supply issues, including General Motors.
In other news:
- The Producer Price Index (PPI) increased 1% in March and 4.2% year over year. The Core PPI increased 0.7% in March and 3.1% year over year.
- Wholesale inventories increased 0.6% in February following an increase of 1.4%.
- The Baker Hughes weekly oil rig count showed U.S. rigs increasing by two, Canada was down by 11 and there was an increase of 14 rigs internationally.
Across the board:
- Airbus (EADSY, Financial) gained 0.80% on strong March deliveries report.
- Boeing (BA, Financial) -1.02% on production issue notice for 737 MAX.
- Johnson and Johnson (JNJ, Financial) -1.06% on vaccine blood clot investigations.
- Pfizer (PFE, Financial) up 1.78% with Food and Drug Administration request to expand vaccine eligibility for children ages 12 to 15.
- Amazon (AMZN, Financial) up 2.21%.
Small-Cap Stocks
In small-caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,243.47 for a gain of 0.88 points or 0.039%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,334.56 for a gain of 2.43 points or 0.18%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 14,893.20 for a loss of 2.11 points or -0.01%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 11,016.02 for a gain of 33.53 points or 0.31%.
Other Notable Indexes
Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,670.52 for a gain of 12.63 points or 0.48%; the S&P 100 at 1,882.89 for a gain of 15.82 points or 0.85%; the Nasdaq 100 at 13,845.06 for a gain of 86.55 points or 0.63%; the Russell 3000 at 2,471.10 for a gain of 16.40 points or 0.67%; the Russell 1000 at 2,325.64 for a gain of 16.49 points or 0.71%; the Wilshire 5000 at 43,186.07 for a gain of 293.98 points or 0.69%; and the Dow Jones US Select Dividend Index at 827.84 for a gain of 2.93 points or 0.36%.
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