US STOCKS-Wall Street rises, Dow hits record high as Middle East hopes lift sentiment

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with the Dow reaching an intraday record high, as investors cheered signs of progress in ‌talks to end the Middle East conflict and a strong corporate earnings season.

The S&P 500 notched its eighth consecutive weekly gain, its longest since a nine-week streak ended in December 2023. Semiconductor stocks, which have driven recent Wall Street gains, were mostly higher. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose, lifted by gains ‌in Qualcomm, while Nvidia slipped.

The U.S. has made some progress toward a deal with Iran, though more work remains, Secretary of State Marco ‌Rubio said on Friday. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said differences between the two sides remained deep. "Earnings season looked really good and the economic data, save a few outliers, looked pretty solid so fundamentally the picture looks really solid," said James St. Aubin, chief investment officer at Ocean Park Asset Management in Santa Monica, California.

"The war has been one ⁠major speed ​bump along the road for ⁠at least the equity market but I think the headlines today looked encouraging and that was probably helping at the margin." According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 27.84 ⁠points, or 0.36%, to end at 7,473.56 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 50.87 points, or 0.20%, to 26,346.27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 294.90 points, ​or 0.59%, to 50,580.56.

Shares of U.S. computer makers surged following strong results from China's Lenovo Group, which reported a better-than-expected 27% jump ⁠in quarterly revenue. Dell Technologies hit a record high while HP Inc gained. Long-dated government bond yields were lower, having pulled back from recent highs. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes ⁠fell ​2.6 basis points to 4.558%.

"The bond market seems to be cooling off and yields are coming down from where they were starting to peak earlier this week and I think that's very encouraging too," St. Aubin said. Kevin Warsh was sworn in as chair ⁠of the Federal Reserve on Friday, taking the helm at a pivotal moment for the U.S. economy as higher gasoline prices tied to the ⁠Iran conflict fuel inflation and weigh ⁠on consumer sentiment.

Estée Lauder rose after the cosmetics maker and Spanish perfumery Puig ended talks for a potential merger. Workday gained after the human resources software provider exceeded expectations for first-quarter revenue and profit.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)