Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, adding to the strong gains posted in the previous session. The major averages have all moved to the upside, further offsetting the weakness seen earlier in the week.
Currently, the major averages are off their highs of the session but still firmly positive. The Nasdaq is up 192.12 points or 0.8 percent at 23,198.48, the S&P 500 is up 45.42 points or 0.7 percent at 6,820.18 and the Dow is up 275.14 points or 0.6 percent at 48,226.99.
The continued strength on Wall Street comes amid a sharp increase by shares of Oracle (ORCL), with the software giant spiking by 7.0 percent.
Oracle is surging after a memo from TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said the company has agreed to sell its U.S. operations to a joint venture that includes Oracle and private equity firm Silver Lake.
Shares of Micron Technology (MU) have also shown another strong move to the upside after helping lead the markets higher on Thursday on better than expected quarterly results and blowout guidance.
Nvidia (NVDA) is also turning in a strong performance on the day, with the AI darling and market leader jumping by 2.8 percent.
The advance by Nvidia comes after a report from Reuters said the Trump administration has launched a review that could result in the first shipments of the company’s second-most powerful AI chips to China.
In U.S. economic news, the National Association of Realtors released a report showing a modest increase by existing home sales in the U.S. in the month of November.
NAR said existing home sales rose by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million in November after jumping by 1.5 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 4.10 million in October.
Economists had expected existing home sales to shoot up by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 4.15 million from the 4.10 million originally reported for the previous month.
A separate report released by the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. rebounded by less than previously estimates in the month of December.
The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for December was downwardly revised to 52.9 from a preliminary reading of 53.3. Economists had expected the index to be upwardly revised to 53.4.
Despite the downward revision, the index is still above the November reading of 51.0, which marked its lowest level since hitting a record low of 50.0 in June 2022.
Sector News
Gold stocks have shown a substantial move to the upside amid a modest increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.0 percent.
Significant strength is also visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index.
Semiconductor, airline and networking stocks are also seeing considerable strength, while housing stocks have moved to the downside following the existing home sales report.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index shot up by 1.0 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed by 0.8 percent.
The major European markets have also moved to the upside on the day. While the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.4 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 0.3 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries are giving back ground following the strength seen in the previous session. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by 2.1 basis points at 4.137 percent.
U.S. Stocks Extending Yesterday’s Rebound As Oracle, Micron Surge
2025-12-19 16:06:40
