Investing.com – Wall Street closed sharply higher on Friday as a consecutive day of frenzied trading action saw stocks stage a late rally to bounce back from triple digital losses amid a strong bout of corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 24,190.97. The S&P 500 closed 1.49% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6874.49, up 1.44%. The Dow Jones fell to a low of 23,360 before staging a comeback heading into the close.
Leading the late-stage rally, tech closed 3% higher as investors cheered earnings from Nvidia after a report Thursday showed a strong beat on both the top and bottom lines, leading to a more than 7% gain for the day.
Some noted the fall below the S&P 500’s 200-day average, a key technical level, drew in support fuelling the late move into positive territory.
Energy was the sole sector to end the day in the red after crude prices slumped more than 3% as US oil rigs count rose to a 34-month high, pointing to a ramp up in domestic oil production.
Also adding to positive sentiment was easing political uncertainty in Washington as a short-lived government shutdown came to end as President Donald Trump signed a massive spending deal into law following approval of the bill by both chambers of Congress early Friday morning.
'Bulls and Bears' on Wall Street
The top Dow gainers for the session: Nike (NYSE:NKE) rose 5.1%, American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) up 4.2% and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) rose 3.9%.
United Technologies Corporation (NYSE:UTX) down 1.7%, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) down 0.5% and Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) down 0.2%, were among the worst Dow performers of the session