US markets: Dow, S&P 500 close at record highs

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The US' Dow Jones and S&P 500 indexes closed Friday at new record high levels with gains in technology companies' stocks.

The blue-chip Dow gained 297 points, or 0.9%, in late session to end the day at 33,800 with Apple rising 2% and Intel increasing 1.8%.

The S&P 500 rose to a new all-time high of 4,128 by adding 31 points, or 0.7%. While the index rose 2.7% for the week, the Dow posted a 2% weekly gain.

The Nasdaq increased 70 points, or 0.5%, to 13,900 with Amazon jumping 2.1% and Google's parent firm Alphabet climbing to an all-time high level of $2,273 per share. The tech-heavy index posted an impressive 3.1% gain for the week.

After rising to 17.34 during the day, VIX volatility index gained was down to 16.69 for a 1.5% daily loss during the final bell.

US dollar index was slightly up by 0.1% to $92.16, while the yield on 10-Year US Treasury bonds rose 1.9% to 1.664 level.

Despite increases in previous days, precious metals were down on Friday. Gold fell 0.7% to $1,742 per ounce, while silver declined 0.8% to $25.2 an ounce.

Oil prices were also down with Brent crude slightly above $63 per barrel with a 0.2% decrease, while the US' West Texas Intermediate was at $59.3 a barrel -- a 0.4% loss.