By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- The Nasdaq closed at a record, and the S&P 500 finished the day four points from its best once again, with tech holding on strong. The Dow struggled to keep up.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 86 points, or 0.31%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.3% and NASDAQ Composite rose 1%.
As of Friday, 91% of S&P 500 companies posted results, of which 81% came in above lowered expectations, according to Refinitiv data. And more earnings are expected this week.
Chipmaker Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) hit a record as Susquehanna and Oppenheimer raised price targets ahead of quarterly results on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 retailing index rose 1.4%, with Walmart (NYSE:WMT) and Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) set to report results in the coming days. Home improvement chains such as Lowe's (NYSE:LOW) and Home Depot (NYSE:HD) were also higher ahead of their earnings later in the week.
Principia Biopharma (NASDAQ:PRNB) jumped 9.4% to a record high after French healthcare firm Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) SA said it would buy the company for about $3.7 billion.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) advanced the most since March, leading a surge in precious-metals miners after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRKa) added the company to its portfolio.
Gold prices jumped more than 2%, briefly recapturing the $2,000 an ounce perch for the first time in nearly a week, as a renewed drop in Treasury yields pushed investors back toward safe-havens.
The Democratic National Convention kicks off tonight, with Joe Biden to become the party's official nominee.
-- Reuters and Bloomberg contributed this report