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US Equity Indexes Scale New Peaks This Week Amid Lift From Mega-Cap Earnings, Crude Oil

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-- US equity indexes jumped this week as communications services and energy topped sector charts in a broad-based rally, reflecting the positive impact of mega-cap earnings and crude oil.

* The S&P 500 closed at 7,230.12 on Friday versus 7,153.06 a week ago. The Nasdaq Composite stood at about 25,114.44, compared with 24,774.11 a week earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 49,499.27, versus 49,153.47 at the end of last week.

* All but one sector, basic materials, rose this week. The top five sectors included financials, consumer defensive, and real estate, which shows a broadening of leadership to value-oriented areas.

* Three Magnificent-7 stocks ended the week lower -- Meta Platforms (META), Nvidia (NVDA), and Microsoft (MSFT), according to data compiled by Finviz. Of the remaining four mega-caps, Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) led the pack with a gain of almost 12%. Except for Nvidia, all Mag-7 companies have so far reported quarterly results, with four of the six firms trading higher this week.

* Among companies with a market capitalization of more than $200 billion, the top gainer was Intel (INTC), whose strong quarterly results translated into a weekly gain of almost 21%.

* Brent crude oil futures soared to a four-year high this week before retreating, and West Texas Intermediate futures remained above the psychologically important $100 mark.

* On Friday, Iran handed Washington a new proposal for ending the war, offering hints of compromise, The Wall Street Journal reported. The two sides remain far apart, however, on substantive issues of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ.

* "They want to make a deal but I'm not satisfied with it," Trump told reporters at the White House Friday, according to Bloomberg. "We just had a conversation with Iran. Let's see what happens. But I would say that I am not happy."

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