S&P 500 and Dow Jones Set New Highs

The U.S. stock market continued its upward trajectory on Friday, as both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average reached new highs. This marks the sixth consecutive week of gains, a significant milestone in 2024 for investors across all sectors and reflecting renewed optimism in corporate earnings and market resilience. 

The S&P 500, a widely regarded benchmark of the overall market, advanced by 0.40%, landing at 5,864.67. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which tracks 30 major industrial corporations, rose 0.09% to put its listing at 43,275.91. The NASDAQ composite, spearheaded by Netflix’s robust post-earnings performance, climbed 0.63% to close at 18,489.55. 

One of the major highlights from Friday was Netflix’s 11% surge after the company surpassed Wall Street’s earning and revenue expectations. The streaming giant also reported a remarkable 35% increase in ad-tier memberships compared to the previous quarter. This boost played a pivotal role in NASDAQ’s impressive performance on Friday, reinforcing the impact of tech stocks in driving broader market gains. 

On the other hand, CVS emerged as this week's biggest loser. After another disappointing quarter, Karen Lynch stepped down as CEO after four years. For the past few months, CVS has been working on downsizing. Nearly 3,000 corporate employees were laid off earlier this month and hundreds of locations are rumored to close. Shares continued to fall on Friday and CVS was the weakest performer out of the top 500 publicly traded companies in the United States with their share price decreasing by 5.23%. The selling price for CVS is currently $63.04 per share, but it was as low as $57.54 on Friday following Lynch’s announcement.