WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Stocks have moved mostly higher during trading on Friday, extending the upward trend seen over the past several sessions. With the continued advance, the S&P 500 has reached a new record intraday high above the 5,000 level.
Currently, the S&P 500 is up 15.50 points or 0.3 percent at 5,013.41, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 133.56 points or 0.9 percent at 15,927.27.
The narrower Dow has bucked the uptrend, however, with the blue chip index slipping 66.66 points or 0.2 percent to 38,659.67.
The strength on Wall Street may partly reflect a positive reaction to data from the Labor Department showing a modest downward revision to consumer price growth in December.
The revised data showed the consumer price index rose by 0.2 percent in December compared to the previously reported 0.3 percent increase.
Meanwhile, the increase by core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, was unrevised at 0.3 percent.
Overall trading activity remains somewhat subdued, however, with a lack of major U.S. economic data keeping some traders on the sidelines.
Traders may be reluctant to make more significant moves ahead of the release of key data next week, including reports on consumer and producer price inflation, retail sales and industrial production.
Among individual stocks, shares of Cloudflare (NET) are soaring after the cloud services provider reported fourth quarter results that beat expectations and provided upbeat guidance.
Bitcoin miner CleanSpark (CLSK) has also spiked after reporting an unexpected fiscal first quarter profit on better than expected revenues.
Meanwhile, shares of Pinterest (PINS) have moved sharply lower after the image-sharing company reported weaker than expected fourth quarter revenues and provided disappointing guidance.
Sector News
Computer hardware stocks have shown a strong move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 1.6 percent to a record intraday high.
Semiconductor, software and networking stocks are also seeing considerable strength, contributing to the advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
On the other hand, gold stocks have come under pressure over the course of the session, dragging the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index down by 1.4 percent to a nearly two-month intraday low.
The weakness among gold stocks comes amid a decrease by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery falling $9.90 to $2,038 an ounce.
Other Markets
In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance, with markets including China and South Korea closed for holidays. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index inched up by 0.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid by 0.8 percent.
Meanwhile, the major European markets have all moved to the downside on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index has fallen by 0.6 percent, the German DAX Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index are both down by 0.4 percent.
In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction over the course of the session after seeing early strength. Currently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 4.175 percent.
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