Investing.com -- U.S. stocks re-entered record territory on Friday, completing their fourth straight week of positive gains, as strong performances by a pair of telecom giants, outweighed losses from General Electric (NYSE:GE) following subdued quarterly earnings from the multinational conglomerate.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 53.62 or 0.29% to 18,570.85, while the S&P 500 Composite index added 9.86 or 0.46% to 2,175.03, as U.S. equities stayed on pace for their strongest month since March. The indices have remained in record territory for the majority of the last two weeks, as signals of slowing growth in the euro area and Japan, as well as plunging global bond yields have sent investors fleeing to safety into stocks on Wall Street. The S&P 500 ended the week at its highest closing level on record. The NASDAQ Composite index, meanwhile, rose by 26.26 or 0.52% to 5,100.16, moving approximately 2% from hitting a record-high.
On the S&P 500, nine of 10 sectors closed in the green as stocks in the Telecommunications, Utilities and Financials industries led. The telecom sector received a boost from AT&T Inc (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE:VZ), which both gained more than 1% on the session. On Thursday evening, AT&T narrowly topped analysts' forecasts with its second quarter earnings, while increasing consolidated revenues by 22% to $40.5 billion for the three-month period ending in late-June. It came as the Dallas-based company reported a spike of 2.1 million wireless adds, 1.4 million of which came from the U.S.
Midway through the second quarter results period, approximately 3% of S&P 500 companies are reporting year-over-year earnings decreases, far below expectations for an aggregate decline of 4.5%, according to Reuters. Next week, roughly 40% of S&P 500 companies are set to report their quarterly earnings.
The top performer on the Dow was Visa Inc (NYSE:V), which added 1.12 or 1.42% to 79.91. Visa finished just ahead of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), which gained 0.77 or 1.38% to 56.57. Earlier this week, Microsoft topped analysts' earnings and revenue estimates after sales among its closely-watched cloud product more than doubled on the quarter. Microsoft shares are up roughly 6% since the Redmond, Washington-based company released their second quarter results on Tuesday night.
The worst performer was GE, which fell 0.53 or 1.63% to 32.06 in Friday's session, after failing to appease investor sentiments on Friday in spite of beating consensus forecasts with its quarterly results. Although GE's revenues rose sharply in the second quarter on an annual basis, investors placed closer attention to weakness in the locomotive and oil-field equipment segment, where orders fell 16%, ex-acquistion and currency shifts. GE had been one of the top components on the Dow since last May when it last hit all-time record highs.
The biggest gainer on the NASDAQ was Vodafone Group (LON:VOD) PLC (NASDAQ:VOD), which added 1.23 or 4.09% to 31.34. Shares in Vodafone are still down nearly 20% over the last year, including 10% during the last three months. The worst performer was Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS), which tumbled 6.11 or 8.62% to 64.81. Shares in the Skyworks Solutions plummeted one day after the semiconductor manufacturer said its profits fell 9% last quarter on an annual basis. Skyworks Solutions, one of the top suppliers for the iPhone, reportedly has seen its revenues dented as Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) looks to reduce its channel inventory ahead of the iPhone 7 launch, according to a report from Fool.com.
On the New York Stock Exchange, advancing issues outnumbered declining ones by a 1,958-996 margin.