Stocks rallied higher Friday, boosting all three market benchmarks for a second straight week of gains as November's strength continues. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared nearly 400 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite added nearly 1.6% and 2%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled to close out the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.56% or +67.89 points to 4,415.24
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +1.15% or +391.16 points to 34,283.10
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +2.05% or +276.66 points to 13,798.11
Friday's rally helped the S&P 500 gain 1.3% for the week, lifted by tech's outperformance during the session that saw Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) climb to all-time highs during the session while Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) each added more than 2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq also rose 2.4% this week, while the Dow added roughly 0.7%.
On the earnings front, Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) shares plunged lower on Friday after the digital marketing company issued lackluster fourth-quarter guidance after delivering stronger-than-expected third-quarter results. The company expects revenue of $580 million for its current quarter, with CEO Jeff Green citing "cautiousness around certain advertisers," like those impacted by auto worker strikes.
Plug Power (NASDAQ: PLUG) dropped over 40% -- wiping out nearly a third of value -- after the hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer issued weak third-quarter earnings results and warned it needs additional capital to continue operations. The company said in a filing published late Thursday is forecasts that "existing cash and available for sale and equity securities will not be sufficient to fund operations through the next 12 months," adding that "these conditions and events raise substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as as going concern."
For economic news, consumer sentiment declined in November as inflation expectations increased, according to the University of Michigan's preliminary reading. Headline sentiment dipped 5.3% from October's reading of 63.8 to 60.4 in early November as one-year inflation outlooks rose 4.4% and the five-year expectations climbed 3.2%, marking the highest such readings since April 2023 and June 2008, respectively.
"While current and expected personal finances both improved modestly this month, the long-run economic outlook slid 12%, in part due to growing concerns about the negative effects of high interest rates," said Joanne Hsu, director of Surveys of Consumers, in a statement. "Ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine weighed on many consumers as well. Overall, lower-income consumers and younger consumers exhibited the strongest declines in sentiment."
In single-stock news, Apple has agreed to pay $25 billion in back pay and other civil penalties to settle charges from the Department of Justice that the tech giant violated the Immigration and Nationality Act. The federal government accused Apple of not advertising open positions through the federal program Permanent Labor Certification Program -- which allows U.S. companies to hire workers who can become permanent U.S. residents.
Looking ahead, market participants are awaiting the results of October's consumer price index reading set to release on Tuesday followed by the month's product price index reading on Wednesday.
The week will also be met by earnings reports from companies including Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Tencent Music Entertainment (NYSE: TME), Target (NYSE: TGT), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) and Applied Materials (NASDAQ: AMAT) as the third-quarter earnings season begins to wind down.