Wall Street ends higher on AI stocks buying

Wall Street ended higher on Friday, lifted by Microsoft and other AI-related technology stocks, while high oil prices and a recent surge in US Treasury yields kept investors on edge. Gains in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq capped a volatile week driven by uncertainty about what industries will win and lose from artificial intelligence, and by concerns about the US war with Iran and a surge in US Treasury yields. Microsoft rallied 3.7%, lifting its 2026 gain to 7%, after the software giant unveiled several new capabilities in its Copilot app, including a coding tool and an always-on AI agent. Chipmaker Qualcomm gained 4% and Dell advanced 5%. Akamai Technologies rallied 3.2% after an $11.6 billion cloud services deal with AI leader Anthropic. The deal includes a warrant that could give Anthropic up to 5% of Akamai. "That's a positive from the standpoint that people are still investing, deals are still being done," said Thomas Martin, Senior Portfolio Manager at Globalt Investments in Atlanta. "It's another circular deal, so ok ... but Akamai stock is up." Meta Platforms dipped 3.3%. The social media company's stock soared about 13% this week amid a strong reception to its Muse AI agent, which analysts say could benefit tech infrastructure stocks, while challenging banks, online shopping platforms and other consumer businesses. The S&P 500 climbed 0.51% to end the session at 7,743.41 points. The Nasdaq gained 0.48% to 27,068.72 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.93% to 51,828.62 points.