Wall St ends higher as tech rally continues, led by Micron

Market Overview - U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday, with a rebound in technology shares offsetting declines in consumer stocks like Nike [8] - The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 183.04 points (0.38%) to 48,134.89, the S&P 500 gained 59.74 points (0.88%) to 6,834.50, and the Nasdaq Composite increased by 301.26 points (1.31%) to 23,307.62 [8] - For the week, the S&P gained 0.11% and the Nasdaq rose 0.48%, while the Dow fell by 0.67% [2] Sector Performance - Seven of the S&P 500 sectors closed higher on Friday, while utilities and consumer staples stocks lost 1.34% and 0.49%, respectively [3] - Nike shares dropped by 10.5% due to a decline in gross margins for the second consecutive quarter, impacted by poor sales in China [3] - Lamb Weston experienced a nearly 26% plunge after signaling muted demand for its products for the remainder of the fiscal year [3] - Conagra fell by 2.5% following weak earnings reports [3] Technology Sector Insights - Micron Technology's strong forecasts reignited optimism around AI-related shares, which had faced pressure due to high valuations and funding concerns [8] - Micron reached a record closing high on Friday, ending the day up 7% [8] - Nvidia rose by 3.9% as the U.S. initiated a review that could permit the first shipments of Nvidia's second-most powerful AI chip to China [8] - Oracle jumped by 6.6% after ByteDance signed agreements to transfer control of TikTok's U.S. operations to a group of investors, including Oracle [8] Economic Indicators - Investors found reassurance in U.S. consumer prices rising less than expected in November, although some analysts cautioned that the data might be distorted due to a 43-day government shutdown [3] - Traders are betting on at least two 25-basis-point interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve next year, with a 20% chance of the first reduction as early as January [5] Market Dynamics - Analysts warned of increased volatility due to "triple witching," which involves the simultaneous expiration of stock options, stock index futures, and stock index options contracts [6] - Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.44-to-1 ratio on the NYSE, with 269 new highs and 72 new lows recorded [7] - On the Nasdaq, 2,781 stocks rose and 1,890 fell, with advancing issues outnumbering decliners by a 1.47-to-1 ratio [7] - The S&P 500 posted 16 new 52-week highs and five new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 85 new highs and 158 new lows [7] - Volume on U.S. exchanges was 24.60 billion shares, compared to the 17.19 billion average over the last 20 trading days [8]