Last week was another bullish one for the stock market, as the major indices continued their upward trend. The S&P 500 had its fifth consecutive winning week, closing above 4,400, while the Nasdaq extended its winning streak to eight weeks. Investors were feeling optimistic, especially after Goldman Sachs raised its year-end price target for the S&P 500 to 4,500 from 4,000.

The winning streak continued for both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, with the S&P marking its fourth straight week of gains and the Nasdaq enjoying its seventh week in a row. It seems like everyone wanted to get in on the action as investors shifted their focus away from mega-cap stocks and explored other parts of the market. The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) was up 1.0% for the week, while the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) didn’t fare as well, closing down 0.2%. Some of those mega-caps saw some profit-taking and concerns over their valuations, but Tesla (TSLA) managed to be the exception to the rule. It had a stellar week, surging 14.2% thanks in part to a charging network deal with General Motors (GM). And hey, Apple (AAPL) stayed flat after unveiling its fancy Vision Pro mixed reality headset at its Worldwide Developers Conference.

The stock market had a strong showing overall on this holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500, which flirted with 4,100 last week, approached 4,300 during Friday’s trade, reaching 4,290 at its high of the day. Uncertainty about the debt ceiling, which had loomed over the market for weeks, finally eased after a deal was passed by both chambers of Congress. The bill now heads to President Biden for signing.

The stock market had an interesting week with its fair share of ups and downs. The S&P 500 bounced between 4,100 and just above 4,200, reaching its highest level since last August.

The major indices ended a six-week period of stagnation for the S&P 500, with gains recorded this week. On Thursday, the S&P 500 reached a new closing high for the year at 4,199 and on Friday, it reached a new intraday high for the year at 4,212. However, the index failed to maintain a position above 4,200 on a closing basis, which has been a strong resistance level since August 2022.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 373 points, closing at 33,301. That’s a decline of 1.1%. On the other hand, the NASDAQ rose for the third consecutive week, adding 0.4%. In terms of market cap, the large cap S&P 500 saw a slight dip of 0.3%, while the mid cap S&P 400 and small cap Russell 2000 both retreated, with decreases of 1.2% and 1.1% respectively.

The stock market closed the first week of May on a positive note, but Friday’s gains were not enough to recoup the losses incurred by most of the major indices throughout the week. The S&P 500 reached its highest point since February earlier in the week, hitting 4,186 on Monday before dipping below the 4,050 level on Thursday.

U.S. Markets:  Stocks recorded mixed returns as attention focused on the season’s busiest week of quarterly earnings reports. About 35% of S&P 500 Index companies, which together represent 44% of its market capitalization, were scheduled to release results during the week. Of note, gains in just four stocks—Microsoft, Apple, Amazon.com, and Facebook parent Meta Platforms—accounted for nearly half of the S&P 500’s strong gain. Technology led the way with the Nasdaq Composite rising 1.3% finishing the week at 12,227. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.9% and closed at 34,089.  By market cap, the large cap S&P 500 gained 0.9%, while the mid cap S&P 400 and small cap Russell 2000 pulled back -0.3% and -1.3% respectively. For the month of April, the Dow rose 2.5% and the Nasdaq ended flat. Large caps added 1.5%, while mid caps fell -0.9%. Small caps ended the month down -1.9%.

The stock market saw little movement this week, with the S&P 500 closing at 4,137 last Friday and closing at 4,133 this Friday. The major indices mostly moved sideways, showing little volatility in daily price action. Investors were waiting for a big batch of earnings results next week, which will feature reports from some mega cap stocks, including Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon.com (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG), and Meta Platforms (META). These reports will follow disappointing Q1 results from Tesla (TSLA), which plunged nearly 10.0% on Thursday.