S&P 500 hits all-time high as new economic data fuels rate-cut bets

• US stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 soaring to an all-time record above 4,800.
• The benchmark index's all-time closing high of 4,796.56 was set in January 2022.

US stocks climbed Friday, continuing Thursday's gains and pushing the S&P 500 toward an intraday record high of 4,818.70.

The benchmark index inched above the intraday record of 4,818.62 shortly after 1:00 p.m. ET Friday, and needs to end the session above 4,796.56 to beat its January 2022 all-time closing high.

Powering the gains in Friday's session was data that helped fuel bets the Federal Reserve could be close to cutting interest rates. Year-ahead inflation expectations in the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey softened to 2.9%, the lowest mark since December 2020. Consumer sentiment climbed to 78.8 in January, the highest since July 2021.

Tech and chip stocks rallied again on Friday, after Taiwan Semiconductor reported strong earnings this week, while Apple got a vote of confidence from Bank of America as it received a "buy" rating from strategists.

Chip stocks also got more momentum after Mark Zuckerberg suggested late Thursday that Meta is spending massive amounts of money on Nvidia chips.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, hovered near its lowest price in a month, despite the ongoing hype around Wall Street's new spot ETFs, which have seen billions of dollars in inflows since being approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this month.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after 1:00 p.m. ET on Friday:

• S&P 500:4,820.57, up 0.83%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 37,753.87, up 0.76% (+284.51 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 15,225.02, up 1.13%

Here's what else is going on:

• Blackstone boss Steve Schwarzman said animal spirits have returned to the stock market.
• The Red Sea attacks are creating chaos in the global coffee trade.
• LPL Financial expects the Magnificent 7 stocks to continue outperforming the market.
• Reddit is reportedly eyeing an IPO in March.
• The Chinese yuan dethroned the dollar as the top currency traded in Russia.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices edged higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 0.34% to $74.32 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, moved up 0.18% to $79.22 a barrel.
• Gold rose 0.76% to $2,036.10 per ounce.
• The 10-year yield moved up 1 basis point to hover at 4.155%.
• Bitcoin climbed 0.78% to $41,231.