Stocks rallied on Wall Street on Friday, driven by Apple’s breach of a record $3 trillion market capitalization and a significant slowdown in US inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.84% to close at 34,407.60 points. The Nasdaq Composite, largely tech-focused, rose by 1.45% to 13,787.92 points, marking its strongest first half of the year since 1983. And the S&P 500 Index surged 1.23% to 4,450.38 points, marking its best performance for the first half-year since 2019.
On a monthly basis, the indices reported substantial gains, with both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 nearing a 6% rise, and the Dow Jones increasing over 4%.
Positive momentum from US inflation and spending slowdown
US inflation fell to 3.8% in May from 4.3% in the previous month. In a similar trend, also household spending has slowed down, demonstrating the impact of increased interest rates by the central bank to control demand and consumer prices.
Additionally, consumer confidence in June soared to a four-month high, according to the University of Michigan’s barometer, rising by 8.8% compared to May.
Apple hits historic $3 trillion market cap
Boosted by Nasdaq’s optimism, Apple closed above the $3 trillion mark for the first time. The tech giant’s shares rose 2.31% to $193.97, making it worth $3.051 trillion.
A positive note from Citigroup bank fueled this surge, helping Apple’s stock soar over 50% since the year’s start.
Other tech heavyweights also saw gains. Nvidia and AMD shares increased by 3.63% and 2.40% respectively on Friday, while Meta and Amazon edged up nearly 2%.
However, Nike saw a 2.65% slump due to underwhelming results announced earlier. Despite higher revenues, it suffered sharp decreases in quarterly net profit due to markdowns and rising costs.
