US close: Dow closes above 50,000 as tech bounces back

(Sharecast News) - Major indices closed sharply higher on Friday as tech stocks bounced back following a wave of heavy selling in recent days. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.47% at 50,115.67, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.97% to 6,932.30 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the sessopm 2.18% firmer at 23,031.21.

The Dow closed 1,206.95 points higher on Friday, more than reversing losses recorded in the previous session and closing above 50,000 for the first time.

Online retail giant Amazon was in focus on Friday after posting another quarter of solid revenue growth late on Thursday, driven by a strong showing from AWS, but shares fell in extended trading after it unveiled plans for a major increase in capital spending in 2026. AWS revenue climbed almost 24% in the fourth quarter to $35.58bn, ahead of market expectations, and accounted for about 17% of total sales, while total revenues came in at $213.39bn, up from $187.79bn last year and marginally ahead of consensus, marking the fourth straight quarter in which Amazon has topped revenue expectations. At group level, Amazon reported adjusted earnings of $1.95 per share.

However, shares traded lower prior to the open after chief executive Andy Jassy said Amazon expects to invest around $200bn in 2026, largely directed toward AWS, a figure well above consensus estimates of $148.86bn.

In terms of Friday's earnings, tobacco giant Phillip Morris said revenue had risen 6.8% to $10.4bn in its fourth trading quarter as it reported a fifth consecutive year of volume growth, while sportswear company Under Armour posted quarterly earnings per share of $0.09 per share, coming in well and truly above of estimates for $0.02 loss per share, even as revenue was down $74m year-on-year.

Bitcoin also drew an amount of investor attention after the benchmark cryptocurrency briefly sunk below $61,000, its lowest level since October 2024, before recovering to $70,449.12 at the close of trading, helping to ease risk-off concerns among traders that have recently weighed on the broader market.

On the macro front, the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index rose by 0.9 points to 57.3 in February, according to a preliminary estimate, ahead of market expectations of 55 to mark a third consecutive monthly increase. However, despite the improvement, sentiment was still roughly 20% below the level seen in January 2025.

Still to come, US consumer credit rose by $24.05bn in December, according to the Federal Reserve, following an upwardly revised $4.70bn increase in November and well and truly ahead market expectations of an $8bn increase.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com

Dow Jones - Risers

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $726.17 7.06% Intel Corp. (INTC) $50.59 4.87% 3M Co. (MMM) $172.43 4.59% Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $384.32 4.49% Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $928.91 4.31% JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $322.86 3.95% Dow Chemical Co. (DOW) $31.67 3.86% Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $108.34 3.55% International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $298.86 3.12% Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $274.83 3.02%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $46.35 -1.68% Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $0.00 0.00% Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00% Walmart Inc. (WMT) $113.56 0.00% Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $159.40 0.35% Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $301.15 0.39% Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $78.93 0.66% Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $189.68 0.73% Home Depot Inc. (HD) $385.04 0.73% Visa Inc. (V) $330.48 0.74%

S&P 500 - Risers

CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $8.10 29.37% Under Armour Inc. Class A (UAA) $7.49 20.38% Under Armour, Inc. (UA) $7.28 19.35% Ipg Photonics Corp. (IPGP) $109.61 10.38% United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $115.91 9.26% Biogen Inc (BIIB) $201.18 8.53% KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,442.95 8.41% Corning Inc. (GLW) $121.95 8.31% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $231.01 8.30% Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) $208.44 8.28%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $2.68 -15.56% Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $119.72 -10.40% VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) $224.17 -7.60% News Corp Class A (NWSA) $22.50 -7.06% News Corp Class B (NWS) $25.65 -6.35% Broadridge Fin Sol (BR) $182.14 -6.01% DaVita Inc (DVA) $140.00 -5.62% Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $210.32 -5.55% Centene Corp. (CNC) $38.07 -3.66% Allstate Corp (The) (ALL) $208.08 -3.55%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Biogen Inc (BIIB) $201.18 8.53% KLA-Tencor Corp. (KLAC) $1,442.95 8.41% Lam Research Corp. (LRCX) $231.01 8.30% Gen Digital Inc. (GEN) $24.26 8.18% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $185.41 7.87% American Airlines Group (AAL) $15.24 7.63% Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $332.92 7.22% Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $187.69 6.87% Applied Materials Inc. (AMAT) $322.51 6.09% Seagate Technology Plc (STX) $429.32 5.89%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $119.72 -10.40% Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $210.32 -5.55% Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $21.60 -4.40% Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,970.15 -3.18% Verisk Analytics Inc. (VRSK) $179.10 -3.02% Microchip Technology Inc. (MCHP) $76.01 -2.60% Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $323.10 -2.48% T-Mobile Us, Inc. (TMUS) $197.39 -2.21% Hasbro Inc (HAS) $93.84 -1.67% Meta Platforms Inc. (META) $661.46 -1.31%