U.S. stocks rallied sharply on Friday as technology shares recovered and bitcoin stabilized after a weeks-long plunge, lifting major indexes to their strongest day since May. The S&P 500 rose 2% for its best session since May, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1,206.95 points to finish above 50,000 for the first time. The Nasdaq composite climbed 2.2%, helped by a broad rebound in chip-related stocks as investors looked for continued momentum tied to artificial-intelligence spending.
Chipmakers led the rebound, with Nvidia shares up 7.8% and Broadcom climbing 7.1% after both entered the day with steep losses for the week. The market’s tech bounce also reflected investor hopes for sustained spending by customers focused on artificial-intelligence technology, chip capacity, and related infrastructure, even as that spending raised questions about whether companies would eventually translate it into large profits.
Amazon’s outlook illustrated the tension behind the move. The article said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told investors late Thursday that the company expects to spend about $200 billion on investments this year to take advantage of “seminal opportunities like AI, chips, robotics, and low earth orbit satellites.” Even with the broader market’s strength, Amazon shares fell 5.6%, reflecting continuing uncertainty about the returns from big technology investment plans.
The rally also came as investors weighed technology’s competitive ripple effects. The article said concerns about AI potentially stealing customers from software companies contributed to weakness in software stocks after Anthropic released free tools aimed at automating tasks including legal services. In the crypto market, bitcoin steadied after dropping more than halfway below its record price set in October, according to the report, climbing back above $70,000 after briefly falling close to $60,000 late Thursday.
Metals prices also calmed compared with prior swings. Gold rose 1.8% to settle at $4,979.80 per ounce, while silver added 0.2%, after both had surged rapidly earlier and drew criticism that the move was unsustainable. On Wall Street, the recovery in bitcoin helped lift stocks tied to the crypto economy, including Robinhood Markets, Coinbase Global and Strategy, which the report said rose 14%, 13% and 26.1%, respectively.
Smaller U.S. companies joined the move, with the Russell 2000 gaining 3.6%, above the S&P 500’s advance. The article tied part of that strength to sentiment among U.S. consumers, pointing to a preliminary University of Michigan report that suggested consumer sentiment was improving slightly even as economists expected a drop. The report said the improvement was strongest among households that own stocks, which have benefited from the S&P 500 setting a record late last month, adding that sentiment “remained at dismal levels for consumers without stock holdings,” according to Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu.
Other sectors also gained as investors looked for signs that consumers might spend more. Airline stocks rose on hopes that firmer confidence could translate into spending on trips, with United Airlines up 9.3%, Delta Air Lines up 8% and American Airlines up 7.6%, according to the article. Overall, the report said the S&P 500 jumped 133.90 points to 6,932.30, the Dow rose 1,206.95 to 50,115.67, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 490.63 to 23,031.21.
Markets abroad were mixed, with indexes rising across much of Europe even as Asian stocks fell. In Europe, the article pointed to Stellantis, whose stock trades in Italy, dropping about a quarter after the automaker said it would take a charge of 22 billion euros, or $26 billion, as it dialed back electric vehicle production, acknowledging “over-estimating the pace of the energy transition” and resetting its business to align with “the real-world preferences of its customers.” In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.8%, supported by a 2% climb in Toyota Motor shares, after Toyota said CEO Koji Sato would step down in April and be replaced by Chief Financial Officer Kenta Kon.
In the bond market, the article said Treasury yields held relatively steady. The report cited the yield on the 10-year Treasury edging down to 4.20% from 4.21% late Thursday.
FRED figures referenced in this article (vintage-correct for Feb. 6, 2026): NASDAQCOM (Nasdaq composite index) at 23,031.21; T10Y2Y (10-year minus 2-year Treasury spread) at 0.72; and GDI (gross domestic income, real) at 30,707.164.