Finance

The technology sector spearheaded Friday's market surge, propelling the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 1.2% to achieve a fresh record high. Tech shares found support as easing Treasury yields relieved valuation pressures on high-growth equities. Hardware giant Nvidia briefly hit an intraday milestone, helping the index finish the week in positive territory despite weekly losses for the Dow and S&P 500.

U.S. government bond yields edged down following the release of the soft September jobs report. The weaker employment metrics prompted market participants to scale back bets on a potential Federal Reserve interest rate hike later this month. Although the 10-year Treasury note has recently hovered near multi-decade highs, the latest data brought temporary relief to the fixed-income and mortgage markets.

The cryptocurrency market exhibited stable momentum into the start of the fourth quarter, with Bitcoin consolidating in the mid-$80,000 range. The digital asset held firmly above its critical support at $84,000 while reaching intraday highs near $86,600. Market confidence was further bolstered as institutional analysts upwardly revised their long-term price targets for the leading cryptocurrency.