The Dow Jones Industrial Average regained 62.72 points to 38,174.20, buoyed by UnitedHealth’s advance of more than 2%.
The S&P 500 slid 27.69 points to 5,207.79.
The NASDAQ jettisoned 213.93 points, or 1.3%, to 16,523.15, as Nvidia and other megacap technology stocks took a hit.
The S&P 500 was set to lose 1.8%, while the NASDAQ was poised to retreat 2.4%. Both indexes were on pace to snap five-week win streaks. The Dow slipped 2.3%, heading for a second straight week of losses.
Despite those moves, it’s shaping up to be a winning May, with each of the major benchmarks set to register a sixth positive month in seven. The Dow is up 0.9% this month, while the S&P 500 is higher by almost 3.5%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ Composite has gained 5.5%.
A chunk of May’s strength can be attributed to a surge in Nvidia, which released blockbuster earnings last week. Though the artificial intelligence darling’s stock fell more than 1% on Friday, shares are poised to end the month more than 26% higher. Tesla, Microsoft, Meta and Netflix also all shed more than 1% on Friday, weighing down the broader market.
Traders also reacted to the latest corporate earnings results. Dell Technologies tumbled 22% even after its first-quarter results beat expectations. Cloud security stock Zscaler popped 5.7%, while developer data platform MongoDB plunged almost 25%. Apparel retailer Gap jumped 26%.
The core personal consumption expenditures price index increased 0.2% in April, in line with the consensus forecast of economists polled by Dow Jones, according to data released Friday. Core PCE rose 2.8% on an annualized basis, slightly above the 2.7% prediction from economists.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury gained a bit of ground, lowering yields to 4.51% from Thursday’s 4.55%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices shed 82 cents to $77.09 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices docked $16.60 to $2,349.90.