Wall Street ends higher as investors buy AI stocks; Microsoft rallies
SPY•U.S. stocks ended higher, with the S&P 500 up 0.51%, the Nasdaq up 0.48% and the Dow up 0.93%. Microsoft rose 3.7% after unveiling new Copilot features, while Akamai gained 3.2% after an $11.6 billion cloud services deal with Anthropic.
1. AI stocks lift indexes
Wall Street ended higher on Friday, led by Microsoft and other AI-related technology stocks. The S&P 500 rose 0.51% to 7,743.41, the Nasdaq gained 0.48% to 27,068.72 and the Dow advanced 0.93% to 51,828.62.
2. Company moves
Microsoft rallied 3.7% after unveiling Copilot capabilities including a coding tool and an always-on AI agent. Qualcomm gained 4% and Dell advanced 5%. Akamai rose 3.2% after an $11.6 billion cloud services deal with Anthropic that includes a warrant that could give Anthropic up to 5% of Akamai.
3. Rates and oil remain concerns
The S&P 500 gained 1.2% for the week and the Nasdaq rose 2%. The S&P 500 traded just under 19 times expected earnings, its lowest valuation since 2023. Brent crude remained above $100 a barrel, while the 10-year Treasury yield was last up 3.4 basis points at 5.196%.
