Investing.com -- The Nasdaq closed higher Friday, after hitting an intraday high as tech stocks continued to make gains as investors piled into high flying tech stocks ahead of a key week of earnings next week.
At 4:00 ET (20:00 GMT), NASDAQ Composite gained 0.6% to close at 18,519.36, just below its closing record 18,647.45. The tech-heavy index had notched a intraday record high earlier in the session of 18,690.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 260 points, or 0.6%, the S&P 500 index ended flat.
Mega tech earnings due next week
Tech pushed the broader market, underpinned by a rise in big tech and chip stocks as investors looked to key earnings from the tech sector next week, with five of Wall Street’s so-called “Magnificent Seven” set to report earnings.
Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) cut early-day losses despite data showing iPhone sales in China fell in the third quarter, suffering from severe domestic competition.
Chip stocks also played a role in the broader market move higher as NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) closed nearly 1% and 6% higher, respectively, with the latter boosted by quarterly earnings that beat estimates.
Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will report on Tuesday, followed by Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) on Wednesday. Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will then report on Thursday.
The five firms represent a large chunk of overall market capitalization in Wall Street, with their earnings likely to act as a bellwether for the broader market. Focus will be squarely on whether artificial intelligence proved to be a major earnings driver, especially amid increased capital expenditures on the fast-growing sector.
Beyond the Magnificent Seven, a barrage of other Wall Street majors are set to report next week, including Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Visa (NYSE:V), Ford (NYSE:F), and Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER).
Capri slumps as Tapestry merger hits regulatory roadblock
Capri Holdings (NYSE:CPRI) slumped 49% after a U.S. judge blocked a pending merger between the parent company of Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo and handbag maker Tapestry (NYSE:TPR). Shares of Tapestry soared 15%.
"We assume a 50% probability the FTC’s attempt to block the deal succeeds and the market once again values CPRI based solely on its fundamentals," UBS said in a note.
Health insurer Centene (NYSE:CNC) advanced 5% after beating estimates for third-quarter profit.
Crypto-related stocks follow Bitcoin lower on Tether probe
Crypto-related stocks including Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), MicroStrategy Incorporated (NASDAQ:MSTR), and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) fell sharply together with Bitcoin (BitfinexUSD) after the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, that the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is investigating whether Tether violated money laundering and sanctions laws.
Payrolls loom large
New orders for key U.S.-manufactured capital goods increased more than expected in September, a positive sign ahead of next week's publication of the advance estimate of third-quarter GDP next week.
The end of next week sees the release of the influential monthly jobs report, which will command a lot of attention, especially after last month's release came in much hotter than expected and curbed expectations of more hefty Fed cuts.
Increased odds of a Donald Trump presidency, over Kamala Harris, also saw markets positioning for inflationary U.S. policies in the coming years.
(Peter Nurse, Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)