The tech sector was the clear winner Friday, thanks to solid gains for several Magnificent 7 stocks. But it was the S&P 500's inaugural close above the psychologically significant 5,000 mark that really made headlines.
At the close, the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.3% to 15,990 and the S&P 500 had gained 0.6% to 5,026 – settling above the 5,000 level for the first time ever.
"On the surface, there is no difference between 5,000 and 4,999, but these big round numbers do hold psychological significance for investors," says Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group. "It is a great reminder of how far we've come and it wasn't that long ago that everyone on TV was telling us about a near-certain bear market and recession."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, slipped 0.1% to 38,671 as Walt Disney (DIS, -2.0%) gave back some of Thursday's earnings-related gains.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both notched weekly wins, marking the 14th time out of the past 15 weeks the two indexes closed higher on the week. This is a feat not accomplished by the S&P 500 since 1972, according to Dow Jones Market Data, while the Nasdaq hasn't strung together a winning streak like this since 1997.
Nvidia outperforms its fellow Magnificent 7 stocks
A number of mega-cap tech stocks helped fuel today's upside in the Nasdaq and S&P 500. Nvidia (NVDA), for one, jumped 3.6% after the Biden administration said it will invest $5 billion in semiconductor-related research and development.
Amazon.com (AMZN, +2.7%), Alphabet (GOOGL, +2.1%) and Microsoft (MSFT, +1.6%) were also notable gainers Friday.
PepsiCo, Expedia slump after earnings
Elsewhere, PepsiCo (PEP) stock fell 3.6% after the snacks and soft drinks maker reported fourth-quarter earnings. While the company beat on the bottom line, revenue of $27.9 billion, down 0.5% year-over-year, fell short of analysts' expectations. This was the first YoY decline in revenue for Pepsi since Q2 2020. PEP also lowered its full-year organic revenue growth forecast, citing slowing demand in reaction to higher prices.
CFRA Research analyst Garrett Nelson downgraded PEP to Buy from Strong Buy after earnings to reflect "near-term concerns related to slowing earnings growth (2024 growth should be about half the year-over-year rate achieved in 2023) and volumes [that] are likely to remain challenged by consumer pushback to product price increases."
Expedia (EXPE) was another post-earnings loser, sinking 17.8% after releasing its quarterly results. While the online travel company reported higher-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue, bookings of $21.7 billion came in below what Wall Street was anticipating. Separately, the company said CEO Peter Kern will be replaced by Ariane Gorin, current president of Expedia for Business, effective May 13.
January CPI on deck
In economic news, the Bureau of Labor statistics downwardly revised the December Consumer Price Index (CPI) to a month-over-month gain of 0.2% vs the previous reading of 0.3%.
Dana Peterson, chief economist of The Conference Board, said in an interview with Bloomberg that the revision was "good news," but added that it amounts to a "nothing burger." Rather, the key event will be next Tuesday morning's release of the January CPI.
