February 6, 2026 / 6:23 PM EST / CBS/AP
The U.S. stock market roared back on Friday as technology stocks recovered much of their losses from earlier in the week and bitcoin halted its plunge.
The S&P 500 rallied 2% for its best day since May, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1,206 points, or 2.5%, and topped the 50,000 level for the first time. The Nasdaq composite rose 2.2%.
The S&P 500 jumped 134 points to close at 6,932. The Dow surged 1,207 to 50,115.67 and the Nasdaq climbed 491 points to 23,031.
“Stocks are wrapping up a volatile week of trade on a high note. The S&P 500 has once again bounced directly off support at the 100-day moving average and surpassed resistance at 6,900. Broad-based buying pressure powered today’s rally as advancing shares are outpacing decliners by over 3:1,” Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial, said.
Tech companies helped drive the widespread rally, with chipmaker Nvidia jumping 7.8% to trim its loss for the week. Semiconductor company Broadcom climbed 7.1% and erased its drop for the week. The two companies propped up the S&P 500, boosted by hopes for continued customer spending on artificial intelligence. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said late Thursday the company expects to spend about $200 billion on investments this year in AI, chips, robotics and low earth orbit satellites. Alphabet announced similarly large investments a day earlier.
Such massive spending is also raising questions about whether the investments will produce enough profit to justify them. Amazon’s stock dropped 5.6% amid ongoing doubt about whether AI investment will pay off for tech giants.
Even with Friday’s surge, the S&P 500 still fell to its third losing week in the last four. Concerns about AI taking market share from software companies also weighed on the market after AI firm Anthropic released free tools to automate tasks like legal services.
Bitcoin rebound
Bitcoin steadied after a weekslong plunge that had sent it more than halfway below its October record. It climbed back above $70,000 after briefly dropping close to $60,000 late Thursday.
Prices in the metals market also calmed after recent wild swings. Gold rose 1.8% to settle at $4,979.80 per ounce, while silver added 0.2%. Those rallies had been driven by investors turning to safe havens amid mounting global geopolitical uncertainty.
On Wall Street, bitcoin’s recovery helped stocks tied to the crypto economy. Robinhood Markets jumped 14% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500. Crypto trading platform Coinbase Global rose 13%. Strategy, the company known for buying and holding bitcoin, soared 26.1%.
Improving consumer sentiment
Smaller-company stocks and firms tied to consumer spending also led the market higher, supported by encouraging consumer sentiment data. A preliminary University of Michigan report suggested U.S. consumer sentiment improved slightly, surprising economists. The improvement was strongest among households that own stocks, which benefited from the S&P 500 setting a record late last month.
“Market sentiment improved after today’s positive report out of the University of Michigan. Median 1-year inflation expectations hit the lowest since January 2025, providing some comfort for investors eager to see improving inflation metrics,” Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial, said. He added that while the market may face more jitters with a new Fed chair, he expects the Federal Reserve to cut rates later this year, which could support further market gains.
Surveys of Consumers Director Joanne Hsu noted sentiment “remained at dismal levels for consumers without stock holdings.”
Airline stocks strengthened on hopes that improved consumer confidence will boost travel spending, with United Airlines up 9.3%, Delta Air Lines up 8% and American Airlines up 7.6%.
In: Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence
