Wall Street Today | S&P Closes Above 5,000, as Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom Sustain Rally

The $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US)$ rose for a 14th week out of 15, the first for large-cap index since March 10, 1972, MarketWatch reported, citing Dow Jones Market Data.

Technology stocks drove the market higher, the best performer among the eight sectors that rose Friday. Semiconductor companies $Lam Research(LRCX.US)$ and $KLA Corp(KLAC.US)$ led gains in the tech heavy $NASDAQ 100 Index(.NDX.US)$. Chip giant $NVIDIA(NVDA.US)$, rival $ASML Holding(ASML.US)$, $Applied Materials(AMAT.US)$ and $Broadcom(AVGO.US)$ joined them in the 10 biggest gainers on the index.

The $S&P 500 Index(.SPX.US)$ rose 0.6% to close at 5,026, while the $NASDAQ 100 Index(.NDX.US)$ gained 1%. The $Dow Jones Industrial Average(.DJI.US)$ slipped 0.1%.

The meteoric rise of semiconductors has been driven by optimism over surging demand for chips that will be used to power artificial intelligence applications. That rosy outlook was confirmed by the latest earnings results from $Arm Holdings(ARM.US)$.

$Coinbase(COIN.US)$, $Marathon Digital(MARA.US)$ and other crypto-related stocks mostly rose Friday after $Bitcoin(BTC.CC)$ topped $47,000 for the first time in nearly two years. $Bit Brother(BETS.US)$ bucked the trend, pulling back 18.6%. The pullback came as the stock gave back some of its 96.6% ascent on Thursday.

Shares of $Masonite(DOOR.US)$ soared Friday after the door-maker agreed to be acquired by $Owens-Corning(OC.US)$ for a 38% premium under a cash deal that values the target company at $3.9 billion.

$Expedia(EXPE.US)$ shares plunged after online travel booking company announced a change in leadershipfollowing fourth quarter results that beat estimates. The company appointed Ariane Gorin as chief executive officer, effective May 13, succeeding Peter Kern, who will be vice chairman and a board member, Expedia said in press release Thursday afternoon, after releasing earnings results.  Bank of America Securities downgraded the stock to neutral from buy, citing a soft bookings outlook and execution risks as the company transitions to a new CEO.

Shares of $Newell Brands(NWL.US)$ plunged Friday after the consumer goods company gave soft full-year outlook and acknowledged a "challenging macro-economic backdrop." That overshadowed the smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and sales beat reported by the company.