By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The S&P 500 and Dow hit records again Friday as tech found its footing after yields gave back some their inflation-induced gains, while financials were led higher by banks ahead of their quarterly earnings next week.
The S&P 500 rose 0.25%, after hitting a record high of 4,108.38 he Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.28%, or 93 points and earlier rose to an all-time high of 33,654.15. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.14%.
The latest signs of inflation, boosted U.S. bond yields, and briefly exerted pressure on growth sectors like tech. The spike in yields ran out of steam, helping tech clawback losses as the Federal Reserve has persistently downplayed the risk of runway inflation. The 10-year yields hit a of 1.687% but fell to about 1.648%.
"[T]here would be upward pressure on prices [from supply chain bottlenecks] that may be passed onto the consumer ... but we think that the effect would be temporary," Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at virtual IMF panel discussion on Thursday.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) were higher. Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) was lower.
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) rose 1.8% as the e-commerce giant defeated an attempt to unionize at its Bessemer, Alabama, fulfillment center.
Financials were led higher by regional banking stocks ahead of key quarterly results from major Wall Street expected next week.
State Street (NYSE:STT), Zions Bancorporation (NASDAQ:ZION) and Citizens Financial (NYSE:CFG) group were among the top gainers.
JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup (NYSE:C), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) are set to report results next week. The banks are expected to show strong performance from trading and deals activity, with the latter boosted by the special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, frenzy.
In industrials, Boeing (NYSE:BA) was in the spotlight after the aircraft maker reportedly urged 16 airline customers to ground the company’s 737 Max jets, citing electrical issues. The 737 Max aircraft was re-certified airworthy in November following a months-long grounding after two deadly crashes.
In other news, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) appears to be reaping rewards for its big play on China – following the launch of its Giga Factory in 2019 – as the electric automaker sold 69,280 Shanghai-made Model 3s and Model Ys, according to an industry report.