Tech stocks boost Nasdaq, S&P 500; Netflix soars

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Tech stocks boost Nasdaq, S&P 500; Netflix soars

The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq edged higher on Friday, driven by gains in technology stocks, while Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) climbed after beating subscriber growth estimates.

Shares of Netflix jumped 9.8% to a record high after the streaming giant topped Wall Street estimates for subscriber additions and said it expected continued growth through the end of the year.

Gains in Netflix lifted Communication Services to the top of the 11 S&P 500 sectors with a 1.3% increase.

Energy and Consumer Staples were among the top losers, bogged down by declines in SLB and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG), which fell 2.4% and 0.8%, respectively, following their results.

Most of the so-called Magnificent Seven stocks, which have driven much of Wall Street's rally this year, were higher, with Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) up 1.2% after data showed a jump in new iPhone sales in China, boosting the broader Technology sector, which rose 0.7%.

Chip heavyweight Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) added 1%, extending gains from Thursday, after BofA Global Research hiked its price target on the stock.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 108.85 points, or 0.25%, to 43,132.38, the S&P 500 gained 12.41 points, or 0.21%, to 5,853.88, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 109.60 points, or 0.58%, to 18,480.79.

The Dow was weighed down by American Express (NYSE:AXP), which lost 4.4% after its quarterly revenue missed estimates.

The small-cap Russell 2000 was set to outperform major indexes in the week. It was last up 0.2%.