The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 62.42 points, or 0.2%, to 39,131.53. The Nasdaq fell 44.80 points, or 0.3%, to 15,996.82.
Weakness in some technology companies weighed on the market, in a change from Thursday. Apple fell 1%. NVIDIA posted a 0.4% gain, after surpassing the $2 trillion valuation mark earlier in the day. On Thursday, the chipmaker soared after reporting high demand for its semiconductors, which are used to power artificial intelligence applications.
A pullback in travel-related companies also curbed gains elsewhere in the market. Booking.com fell 10.1%, dragging down other travel-related companies. The online travel service beat Wall Street's sales and profit targets for the fourth quarter but issued a lukewarm forecast that spooked investors. Its competitor Expedia Group fell 2%.
"Investors are optimistic, with political uncertainty, elevated valuations and Fed uncertainty unable to dent market momentum," said Mark Hackett, head of investment research at Nationwide.
Profits continued to be the big focus. Ticket seller and concert promoter. living nation rose 2% after beating analysts' revenue forecasts. Sleep Number, which sells beds and bedding products, rose 33% after beating Wall Street revenue forecasts.
On the losing side, Warner Bros. Discovery fell 9.9% after reporting a larger loss than Wall Street expected.
Outside of profits, Intuitive Machines, the company that made the first moon landing In more than 50 years, it shot up 15.8%.
Energy stocks mostly fell as oil and natural gas prices fell. US crude oil prices fell 2.7% and natural gas prices fell 7.4%.
Treasury yields fell. The 10-year Treasury yield fell to 4.26% from 4.33% late Thursday.
Markets rose mainly in Europe and Asia. Tokyo markets were closed for a holiday, a day after they hit a record high.
Investors have more big earnings to review next week as they try to get a better idea of โโwhere the economy is headed. Home improvement retailer Lowe's and discount retailer Dollar Tree will report results. Computer maker HP and electronics retailer Best Buy will also report results.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet expect S&P 500 companies to post earnings growth of just under 4% for the fourth quarter. Approximately 90% of the companies in the index have already reported. Analysts forecast earnings growth of 3.6% for the current quarter.
Wall Street will also get more economic data that could further clarify how consumers feel and whether inflation is still cooling. The Conference Board will release its February consumer confidence survey and the government will provide another update on gross domestic product during the fourth quarter.
Much focus will be on inflation data from the government's January report on consumption and personal spending. It is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation and is expected to cool to 2.4%. It peaked at 7.1% in June 2022.
He The Federal Reserve has been trying to control inflation returned to its 2% target and last week's data on consumer and wholesale prices were more positive than Wall Street expected. That led Wall Street to boost expectations that the central bank would begin cutting its benchmark interest rate. Traders now expect the Federal Reserve to cut rates in June instead of March.
