Wall Street ends week higher; Nasdaq secures fourth straight weekly gain

Major US equity benchmarks closed in positive territory on Friday, wrapping up the trading week on a firmer note. The Dow posted the largest move, climbing 423 points; the Nasdaq Composite added 0.64% and the S&P 500 gained 0.59%.

Beneath the index moves, demand was visible in software and cybersecurity shares. Snowflake, Datadog, Palantir and Palo Alto Networks numbered among the notable advancers. Chips painted a more mixed picture: Arm, Intel, AMD and Super Micro Computer ended down even as the broader market rose.

Across the full week, the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Dow all ended up. The Nasdaq made it four straight weekly advances, and the Dow turned in its largest weekly percentage gain since the week through August 7.

Friday's closing figures

• Dow Industrial Average: climbed 423.06 points, or 0.83%, to 51,660.18.
• S&P 500: added 46.18 points, or 0.59%, to 7,811.54.
• Nasdaq Composite: rose 172.83 points, or 0.64%, to 27,366.17.
• Russell 2000: gained 12.85 points, or 0.46%, to 2,806.98.
• Nasdaq 100: advanced 157.34 points, or 0.51%, to 30,883.15.

The week in review

Here is how the major indexes changed over the trading week:

• Dow Industrial Average: advanced 0.93%.
• S&P 500: rose 1.15%.
• Nasdaq Composite: gained 0.64%.

That leaves the Nasdaq on a four-week winning run, its longest such stretch since a run of six weekly gains ended on May 8.

So even after the selling that marked the earlier sessions, buyers kept another weekly advance intact. They pressed their bids into Friday's close. Now the question is whether they can follow through.

Software names showed up prominently among the winners

Topping the provided gainers list was Moderna, which jumped 14.21%. Other substantial climbs came in software, cybersecurity and a handful of technology names:

• Moderna: advanced 14.21%.
• Snowflake: gained 7.42%.
• Ambarella: climbed 7.23%.
• Datadog: added 7.11%.
• Roblox: increased 5.62%.
• Ciena: rose 5.58%.
• Alibaba: gained 5.36%.
• Palantir: advanced 5.17%.
• Palo Alto Networks: climbed 5.09%.
• Oracle: added 4.69%.
• CrowdStrike: rose 4.57%.
• Coinbase: gained 4.30%.

These increases were well ahead of the main indexes. Software and cybersecurity contributed multiple pockets of strength, and Ambarella's climb stood in contrast to losses among a range of other semiconductor-related stocks.

Not all stocks participated in the rally

AT&T dropped the most on the provided decliners list, falling close to 10%. Deere also lost ground, and various semiconductor and hardware names ended down:

• AT&T: fell 9.85%.
• Hess Midstream Partners: declined 5.10%.
• Deere: dropped 4.85%.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill: slid 3.37%.
• Arm: lost 3.27%.
• Intel: fell 2.22%.
• 3M: declined 2.22%.
• Super Micro Computer: dropped 2.13%.
• AMD: shed 2.03%.
• Netflix: slipped 1.77%.
• SanDisk: fell 1.71%.

The gap inside technology deserves attention. Several software stocks saw active buying, but the heat did not carry evenly through the semiconductor sector.

A trading note: start with the index, then examine your stock

A rising Nasdaq is useful context for traders, but it is not a guarantee that all technology stocks will move up alongside it.

Friday's session saw Snowflake and Datadog each advance more than 7% while Arm and AMD fell. Same market, sharply different outcomes.

In a single trade, the stock's own price action should determine the bias and risk. Mark out its support, resistance and moving averages. Then track whether the price can cross those levels and hold.

The wider market sets the stage, but the individual stock has to validate the trade.