U.S. stock indices closed higher on Friday as South Korean memory chip maker SK Hynix delivered a blockbuster debut, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.4% to 7,575.39 and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.3% to 29,825.11. SK Hynix opened at $170 on the Nasdaq, surging approximately 13% above its $149 offering price, while Meta Platforms and Nvidia gains offset weakness in Micron, Broadcom, and Amazon.
Meta breached its 200-day moving average for the first time in over two months following announcements of its Muse Spark 1.1 AI coding tool and plans to manufacture in-house AI chip 'Iris' in September. Boeing opened its fourth 737 Max assembly line near Seattle, and Circle secured final U.S. regulatory approval to establish First National Digital Currency Bank.