Investing.com - Stocks hit record intraday and closing highs Friday, and the Nasdaq Composite Index topped 8,900 for the first time as the December market rally continued.
The Nasdaq closed up 0.42% at about 8,925 on a day when stocks shot higher at the open and basically stayed there.
The S&P 500 Index closed up 0.49%, with strength in consumer staples, energy, health care and technology stocks.
The Dow Jones industrials jumped nearly 232 points at the open, but the index gave up about two-thirds of its gain, primarily on weakness in Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Nike (NYSE:NKE). The blue chips ended up 0.27% on the day.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) was down 1.6% after United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) said it is taking off flights using the 737 Max jetliner until at least June 4. Spirit Aerosystems Holdings (NYSE:SPR) said it will halt production of new 737 Max fuselages until the plane is recertified. Spirit shares fell about 1%.
Boeing's loss cut the Dow's gain by nearly 37 points.
Nike (NYSE:NKE) fell back 1% because the stocks had had a big recent run that made a modest miss in third-quarter gross profit margin a reason to sell.
The overall market was cheered by continued hopes that the U.S.-China trade deal would come together. In addition, the Commerce Department reported better-than-expected gains in personal income and spending.
Some 308 stocks hit 52-week highs on the day. Among these were 10 Dow stocks, including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). In addition, a number of big tech stocks hit new highs, including Adobe Systems (NASDAQ:ADBE), Autodesk (NASDAQ:ADSK) and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD).
The next two weeks will see lower volumes as traders and investors take time off for the holidays.
For the year, the S&P 500 is up nearly 29%, with the Nasdaq up more than 34% and the Dow up 22%.
Oil prices moved lower, but interest rates were pulled higher by the rally in stocks.