The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged on Friday, marking its best session of the year as investors closed out a strong month following the Federal Reserve’s release of inflation data that met expectations. The blue-chip Dow soared 574.84 points, or 1.51%, to reach 38,686.32, driven by strong performances from Salesforce and UnitedHealth with gains of 7.5% and 2.8% respectively. The S&P 500 also saw an increase of 0.80% to 5,277.51. However, the Nasdaq Composite experienced a slight dip of 0.01% to 16,735.02, impacted by declines in Nvidia and other major technology stocks.

Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended their five-week winning streaks with decreases of 0.51% and 1.1% respectively. The Dow also saw a decline of 0.98%, marking a second consecutive week of losses. Despite the challenges faced during the week, May proved to be a successful month for the market, with all major indices registering their sixth positive month out of seven. The Dow gained 2.3%, the S&P 500 rose by 4.8%, and the Nasdaq increased by 6.88%, achieving its best performance since November.

Quincy Krosby, LPL Financial’s chief global strategist, highlighted the market’s volatility, pointing to factors such as the upcoming election, Treasury yields, and consumer spending as key variables influencing market direction. The surge in Nvidia played a significant role in boosting market performance during May, following the company’s strong earnings report. Despite a slight decline on Friday, Nvidia’s stock closed the month nearly 27% higher. Conversely, Tesla and Netflix experienced setbacks on Friday, impacting the Nasdaq’s performance for the day.

Key economic data released on Friday, including the core personal consumption expenditures price index, largely aligned with economists’ forecasts. The index rose by 0.2% in April, meeting expectations, while the annualized core PCE increased by 2.8%, slightly exceeding economists’ predictions. Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, noted that the market reacted positively to the data, indicating a sense of relief following the report.

Market participants also responded to corporate earnings updates, with Dell Technologies witnessing a more than 17% decline despite strong earnings due to concerns over its AI server backlog. On the other hand, cloud security firm Zscaler saw an 8.5% increase, while developer data platform Mon…