US tech stocks lead Wall Street rally as S&P 500 posts new record

NEW YORK - Wall Street stocks rallied on Friday, with the tech sector logging major gains while the Dow and broad-based S&P 500 hit new highs.

But European markets, which are much less tech-heavy than their American counterparts, lagged as they ended the week lower on concerns about slow growth and high interest rates. 

Global equities had rebounded Thursday as tech giants clawed back recent losses, overcoming concerns about central banks delaying rate cuts. 

Those gains continued into Friday, though at a less hectic pace.

Still, it was enough for the S&P 500 to surpass its last record close in early 2022.

New York's gains were largely driven by a surge in tech giants including Alphabet, Meta and Nvidia after chip titan Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co unveiled a strong outlook for capital spending and revenue that boosted hopes for 2024. 

They also came as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted on Instagram that the company is purchasing AI products including Nvidia chips which are key to AI projects.