US benchmark equity indexes rose Friday amid a post-earnings rally in the stocks of technology giants Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT), as markets awaited the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy decision due next week.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2% to 15,927.9, while the S&P 500 rose 1% to 5,100. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.4% to 38,239.7. Communication services led sector gainers, up 4.7%, followed by tech. Utilities and energy saw the steepest declines.
For the week, the Dow increased 0.7%, while the S&P 500 surged 2.7%. The Nasdaq gained 4.2%.
In company news, Alphabet's class A and C shares jumped roughly 10% each, the top gainers on the Nasdaq and the second-best on the S&P 500. The Google parent late Thursday logged stronger-than-expected first-quarter results and initiated its first-ever dividend, along with a $70 billion stock buyback program.
Microsoft was the second-best performer on the Dow, up 1.8%. The tech giant late Thursday posted stronger-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results as a double-digit gain in its cloud business helped boost overall revenue.
Intel (INTC) shares slumped 9.2%, the steepest decline on the Dow and among the worst on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. The chipmaker late Thursday reported first-quarter revenue that fell short of market estimates. The company's second-quarter financial outlook "left a lot to be desired," Wedbush Securities said in a Friday note.
The US 10-year yield fell 4.1 basis points to 4.67%, while the two-year rate was flat at roughly 5%.
In economic news, US consumer spending held steady month to month but outpaced expectations in March, while core inflation was sequentially unchanged at both the monthly and annual levels, government data showed.
The annual headline personal consumption expenditures price index quickened to 2.7% from 2.5%, while the Fed's preferred core measure -- which excludes food and energy -- held at 2.8% for the second straight month. Both metrics came in higher than expected.
Signs are pointing to near-term price pressures, likely resulting in the Fed "continuing to exercise patience with respect to rate cuts, with markets currently betting on a first cut in the fall," TD Economics said in a note.
On Thursday, US government data showed that the economy grew at a slower-than-projected pace in the first quarter, while consumer spending growth eased sequentially amid increasing inflationary pressures.
The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce its next interest-rate decision following a two-day meeting on Wednesday. Markets are widely expecting that policymakers will keep their benchmark lending rate unchanged, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, marking a sixth straight pause.
In a bid to tame inflation, the FOMC increased interest rates by 525 basis points from March 2022 through July 2023.
US consumer sentiment decreased on a monthly basis in April, while inflation expectations ticked up, according to the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.1% to $83.66 per barrel Friday.
Gold increased 0.4% to $2,351.30 per troy ounce, while silver fell 0.4% to $27.24 per ounce.