The rise in Intel shares supported the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indices / Photo: X / NYSE
Strong results from chipmaker Intel, which triggered a rally in the entire semiconductor industry, as well as hopes that the U.S. and Iran would return to the negotiating table, pushed the stock market to new all-time highs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes ended trading on April 24 at record levels, but the Dow Jones, which is called an indicator of the "old" economy, remained in the red zone. Intel shares were excluded from the DJIA in 2024.
Details
- The broad market index S&P 500 rose by 0.8% on April 24 - to a new record. At the end of the week, it added 0.6% and showed the longest series of weekly growth since 2024, Bloomberg calculated.
- The Nasdaq Composite Technology Sector Index jumped 1.6% on Friday, also ending the day at an all-time high. For the week, it was up 1.5%.
- The index of "blue chips" Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 0.2% at the end of the day. For the week it lost 0.4%.
- The Russell 2000 index of small- and mid-cap companies added 0.3% on Friday, and its weekly gain was 0.25%. This is the fifth week in a row that the Russell 2000 has been in the plus column, the longest streak since September, MarketWatch shows.
- Brent crude futures rose by 1.3% and again broke the $106 per barrel mark. WTI fell in price by 0.4%, trading at $95 per barrel.
What influenced the stock
The rise in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite on Friday was supported by a strong report and an optimistic outlook for Intel. Shares of the chipmaker itself soared 23.6 percent, setting an all-time high and posting its best growth since 1987, CNBC pointed out. DA Davidson said that this is a harbinger of sharp growth of Intel's business in the segment of processors (CPUs). As a result, the market began a rally in the shares of semiconductor companies: quotations of Arm Holdings jumped by 14.8%, Qualcomm - by 11.2%, securities Sandisk rose by almost 6.2%, and Lam Research and Micron Technology added more than 3%.
Shares of industry leader Nvidia rose more than 4% to end trading at an all-time high of $208.27. This is their first record since October, Bloomberg notes. Nvidia's capitalization at the end of the day exceeded $5 trillion for the first time since November 2025, MarketWatch recalls.
The iShares Semiconductor ETF, which tracks the performance of semiconductor companies, posted its 18th consecutive session of gains on Friday. For the week, it rose 10%.
Investor sentiment was also affected by the termination of the criminal investigation against U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Bloomberg notes.
In addition, the market regained hope for an end to the conflict in the Persian Gulf. The White House announced that its delegation is heading to talks with Iran in Islamabad, and the US TV channel MS NOW reported that the Iranian foreign minister will arrive there on Friday to discuss with Pakistani mediators the prospects for a second round.
Despite investor optimism about the continuation of negotiations, oil prices remain high. A baseline forecast by Baker Hughes, one of the world's largest oilfield services companies, suggests that the Strait of Hormuz may not fully open until the second half of the year, CNBC reported .
What the analysts are saying
"President Trump's apparent eagerness to find a way out may keep market expectations of de-escalation alive, and together with a stable start to the reporting season, this should provide support for equities for now. However, further sharp gains are unlikely without a decisive breakthrough in negotiations," said Barclays strategist Emmanuel Kau.
The chipmakers' rally showed that artificial intelligence is "starting to slowly come back into the spotlight, after weeks while it was pushed out of investor focus by the conflict in the Middle East and oil prices," Moneyfarm Investment Director Richard Flax told MarketWatch. Next week, Wall Street will be watching for reports from a number of big tech companies, including Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple. According to Flax, special attention will be paid to these companies' spending on AI.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
