On Friday, the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq indexes all closed up, with chipmakers, software companies, and AI-infrastructure stocks leading the rally. Amazon.com fell after announcing plans to spend $200 billion on data centers and chips. US consumer sentiment unexpectedly rose to a 6-month high. Bitcoin surged by more than 11%, boosting cryptocurrency-exposed stocks. Earnings season is positive, with 79% of S&P 500 companies beating expectations. In Europe, German industrial production fell, but exports rose. US stock movers included ARM Holdings, Super Micro Computer, and Nvidia leading gains, while Molina Healthcare and Stellantis NV led losses.

Read more at Barchart: Stocks Roar Back as Beaten-Down Tech Sector Rebounds