US benchmark equity indexes closed at all-time highs Friday following strong weekly gains after Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6% to 43,989 Friday, while the S&P 500 increased 0.4% to 5,995.5. The Nasdaq Composite added 0.1% to 19,286.8. Among sectors, utilities and real estate saw the biggest gains.
Materials, communication services, and technology closed lower. For the week, the Nasdaq jumped 5.7%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.7%. The Dow rose 4.6%. Trump defeated Kamala Harris in Tuesday's poll, marking his return to the White House. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, following a 50-basis-point cut in September.
The US two-year yield rose 3.6 basis points to 4.26% Friday, while the 10-year rate dropped 3.9 basis points to 4.30%. In economic news, US consumer sentiment so far in November reached the highest level in six months, preliminary results from the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers showed.
Year-ahead inflation expectations fell to the lowest point since December 2020. Interviews for the survey were concluded prior to the US presidential election, the report indicated. West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.7% to $70.41 a barrel Friday. Prices decreased as concerns around extended supply disruptions from Hurricane Rafael in the US Gulf of Mexico eased, sending a wave of relief across investors.
In company news, Axon Enterprise ($AXON) shares surged nearly 29%, the best performer on the S&P 500. Late Thursday, the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results and raised its full-year revenue outlook. Fortinet ($FTNT) was the top gainer on the Nasdaq and the second-best on the S&P 500 Friday, up 10%, following a strong third-quarter performance late Thursday.
Tesla ($TSLA) shares also jumped 8.2%, marking a significant gain as the electric vehicle maker's market capitalization topped $1 trillion, with markets betting that Tesla stands to benefit from Trump's victory. Airbnb ($ABNB) experienced the most significant decline on the Nasdaq and the second-steepest on the S&P 500, down 8.7%.
Late Thursday, the vacation rental company's third-quarter earnings more than halved year-over-year, while revenue narrowly advanced above Wall Street's estimates. Conversely, Akamai Technologies ($AKAM) shares sank 14% Friday, marking the worst performance on the S&P 500. Late Thursday, the company reported a substantial drop in its third-quarter adjusted earnings year over year and lowered its full-year outlook.
In commodity news, gold fell 0.5% to $2,692.80 per troy ounce, while silver lost 1.5% to $31.38 per ounce, as investors weighed the implications of political and economic shifts..