The Nasdaq Composite Index rose to an all-time high for a second day after Google Inc. jumped on better-than-estimated earnings, while a decline in energy shares muted gains in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
Google soared 16%, the most in more than seven years, and Facebook Inc. added 4.5% to a record. The Nasdaq Internet Index gained 2.6%. The S&P 500’s energy group dropped 1.1% as Chevron Corp. lost 1.4% and Chesapeake Energy Corp. sank 5.5%. Boeing Co. slid 1.1% after saying it will revise its profit outlook amid higher costs to develop a new refueling tanker, Bloomberg reported.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.95 to 5,210.14 in New York, and the Nasdaq 100 Index added 1.5% to a more than 15-year high. The S&P 500 climbed 0.1% to 2,126.64, within 5 points of its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 33.80 points, or 0.2%, to 18,086.45, weighed by declines in Boeing and Chevron.
“We’re now watching earnings come out, with the background of what’s going on internationally,” said Bill Schultz, who oversees $1.2 billion as chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates Inc. in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. “It looks like Google had a good earnings report, so that’s helping. There’s nothing right now that looks like there’s an impediment to pushing stocks higher or causing a selloff.”
The S&P 500 closed 0.2% below its record and had its biggest weekly gain in four months on signs that Greece’s standoff with creditors is nearing a conclusion and a rout in Chinese equities has been contained. The Nasdaq Composite marked its best weekly advance since October, up 4.3%.
Earnings Season
Investors have also turned more attention to corporate earnings season. Analysts project profits for members of the S&P 500 dropped 5.3% in the second quarter, an improvement from a 6.4% decline estimated a week ago.
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index fell 1.3% Friday to 11.95, its lowest since December. The gauge know as the VIX extended its slide to a sixth day, the longest such streak in seven months. About 6.3 billion shares traded hands on US exchanges today, in line with the three-month average.
The influence of Google’s rally was clear as technology was the only one of the S&P 500’s 10 main groups to rise, up 1.8%. Raw materials and utilities joined energy as the worst performers. Within the tech group, just 21 of 67 stocks gained. The Nasdaq Internet Index surged to a record amid its best weekly climb since Dec. 2011, with Google and Netflix Inc. each rising more than 18% during the period.
