- US stocks moved higher on Friday trade as the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 attempts to snap a four-week losing streak.
- Optimism towards an improving US economy continued following the release of Leading Economic Index from the Conference Board on Thursday.
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US stocks climbed on Friday, setting up the Nasdaq 100 to snap a four-week losing streak.
The move higher in stocks comes as optimism towards an improving US economy increased following the Thursday release of the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index. The April LEI data showed a 17% year-over-year improvement, as well as a 1.6% month-over-month improvement.
Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Friday:
- S&P 500: 4,184.80, up 0.6%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 34,388.18, up 0.9% (311 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 13,576.43, up 0.3%
Cryptocurrencies remained volatile, with bitcoin up slightly and ether was down about 4%. The US government is moving towards further regulation of crypto assets. On Thursday, the Treasury Department indicated that the IRS will seek to require any transfer of more than $10,000 in crypto assets to be reported to the department.
Meanwhile, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said it will tackle bad actors in the crypto space and needs to be prepared to fight cases against them. All of this comes following a volatile week for crypto, in which bitcoin and ether fell more than 30% in a single day.
Much of that volatility was initially sparked by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his concerns over its environmental impact. On Thursday, Musk said bitcoin can shake off its bad climate reputation if top miners can prove they're using green energy.
Oil prices were higher. West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 2.3%, to $63.46 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, climbed 2.1%, to $66.47 per barrel, at intraday highs.
Gold increased as much as 0.7%, to $1,889.41 per ounce.