Post-Bell | Dow Manages Record Closing Highs; Nasdaq Falls as Big Techs Pull Back. Plug Power Surges 34%; USA Rare Earth Soars 14%

The S&P 500 eked out a record closing high in a volatile session Friday, with interest rate-cut expectations holding up as the U.S. government shutdown went on for a third day.

The Dow also posted a record closing high, but the Nasdaq ended lower.

Market Snapshot

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 238.56 points, or 0.51%, to 46,758.28, the S&P 500 rose 0.44 points, or 0.01%, to 6,715.79 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 63.54 points, or 0.28%, to 22,780.51.

Market Movers

Tesla declined 1.4%, extending losses from Thursday's session when it fell 5.1% after it reported third-quarter deliveries of 497,099 cars, a record for any quarter. Thursday's decline ended a four-session winning streak. Tesla stock has gained 4.3% this year.

Meanwhile, a group of shareholders led by New York City employee pension funds filed a letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday, urging their fellow Tesla investors to oppose CEO Elon Musk's proposed $1 trillion pay package. "We are concerned that the Board remains fixated on pleasing Mr. Musk, rather than responsibly addressing his many varied pursuits, at least some of which have come at the expense of Tesla shareholders," the letter read.

Apple rose 0.4% to $258.02. Analysts at Jefferies sounded the alarm over unrealistic expectations for coming iPhone models as well as the upgrade cycle. The analysts cut their rating on shares of the iPhone maker to Underperform from Hold on Friday. The firm also lowered its price target to $205.16 from $205.82.

Applied Materials fell 2.7% after the chip-equipment maker said new U.S. export rules would crimp its fourth-quarter revenue by $110 million and its 2026 revenue by $600 million. Applied Materials said the Bureau of Industry and Security's Affiliate Rules -- expanding the list of companies subject to restrictions -- will restrict its ability to export certain products and services to China-based customers without a license. Fellow chip-equipment makers KLA Corp. and Lam Research declined 3.3% and 0.8%, respectively.

Plug Power surged 34% to $3.80. Shares of the maker of hydrogen-based energy technologies have jumped 53% this week. On Friday, analysts at HC Wainwright raised their price target on Plug Power to $7 from $3.

Shares of Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts International, and Las Vegas Sands were down 7.3%, 2.4%, and 7.4%, respectively. Citi Research analysts noted Thursday that passenger data for the first two days of Golden Week, a national holiday encouraging domestic travel in China, were weaker than expected. All three companies operate casinos in Macau, a special administrative region of China.

Humana stock climbed 11%. The company said in a securities filing that 20% of members enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans are rated four stars or above for 2026, down from 25% in 2025, but in line with the company's assumptions for its multiyear financial planning.

Fair Isaac rose 4%. Shares jumped 18% jump on Thursday, marking the stock's largest daily percentage increase since Nov. 10, 2022, according to Dow Jones Market Data. The credit scoring service provider unveiled new pricing models that would allow companies providing credit reports to directly access FICO scores, thereby bypassing credit bureaus like Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. Shares of Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian were rising Friday after tumbling in the previous session.

Digital-asset exchange Coinbase Global was up 2% at $380.02. Coinbase closed up 7.5% on Thursday and has ended five straight sessions with gains. Analysts at Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded Coinbase to Buy from Neutral on Friday and lifted their price target to $417 from $325. Coinbase has risen along with an increase in the price of Bitcoin. The world's largest cryptocurrency was up 1.1% the past 24 hours at $122,154.37 on Friday.

USA Rare Earth gained 14% after the company said it was "in close communication" with the Trump administration. "What we're doing is keeping the administration informed of our plans, and we expect that partnership to continue," CEO Barbara Humpton told CNBC. The rare earth miner declined to comment further in a statement to Barron's.

Shares of oil-and-gas producer Occidental Petroleum were up 1.4%. The stock fell 7.3% on Thursday after Occidental Petroleum reached an agreement to sell its petrochemical business to Berkshire Hathaway for $9.7 billion.

Rumble soared 16% after forming a partnership with Perplexity to use the company's artificial-intelligence tools for improving video discovery on its platform.