Wall Street ends a mixed week; Nasdaq hits record high

The outstanding performance of Nvidia’s stock helped the Nasdaq overcome pressures stemming from concerns about Federal Reserve interest rates.

All three major Wall Street indices rose in Friday’s trading. The standout was the Nasdaq, which, driven by Nvidia’s stock, reached a new record high and marked its fifth consecutive weekly gain.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, comprising 30 large companies, edged up 0.01% to close at 39,069.59 points. The S&P 500, which includes 500 different stocks, advanced 0.70% to 5,304.72 points, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.10% to 16,920.79 points.

This week was characterized by worries about the possibility that the Federal Reserve might need to keep interest rates high for a longer period, a stance the central bank reinforced with the minutes from its latest meeting.

However, Nvidia’s stellar performance over the week (+15.13%), culminating in a record high after a very strong quarterly report, boosted tech stocks and alleviated some of the market pressures.

Gains were predominant across sectors, led by the communication sector (1.29%). Within the Dow Jones, notable advances were seen in Intel (2.13%) and JPMorgan (1.92%), while Salesforce (-2.25%) and Johnson & Johnson (-1.82%) posted losses.

For the week, amid interest rate pressures, the Dow Jones declined by 3.37% after five weeks of gains. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq, however, rose by 0.05% and 1.41% respectively, both extending their winning streaks to five weeks.