By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tech stocks powered Wall Street to a higher close, and crude prices posted their biggest weekly drop in a month on Friday as investors looked past mixed earnings and focused on strong Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) results and Beijing's policy steps to boost Chinese demand.

Gold, meanwhile, muscled past the $2,700 mark for the first time ever.

"Gold is having a strong run because of the breadth of uncertainties," said Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments in New York. "It’s the safe-haven play, and investors would be prudent to diversify their portfolios' safe-haven allocations amid this deep level of uncertainty."

Tech-adjacent megacap momentum stocks boosted the Nasdaq, while the gains for the S&P 500 and the Dow were more modest. Both the S&P 500 and the Dow nabbed record closing highs.

All three indexes notched their sixth consecutive week of gains, marking the longest weekly winning streaks since late 2023.

Earnings reports ranged from upbeat to dour, with Netflix demonstrating strong subscriber additions while Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) reported a surprise drop in sales due to slowing demand.

"Netflix got the tech sector going, and when one sector is strong, usually people sell the other sectors, so the Nasdaq is leading and the Dow is lagging," said Jay Hatfield, CEO of Infrastructure Capital Management in New York. "But a few days ago, the exact opposite was happening. So it's a classic market melt-up."

"People are responding to global interest rate cuts, and the U.S. economy is strong," Hatfield added. "The only uncertainty is the U.S. presidential election, but it seems like people are getting more comfortable with that outcome as well."

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 36.86 points, or 0.09%, to 43,275.91;
• The S&P 500 rose 23.20 points, or 0.40%, to 5,864.67;
• The Nasdaq Composite rose 115.94 points, or 0.63%, to 18,489.55.

European stocks closed higher, aided by a resurgence in tech stocks after a choppy week characterized by mixed earnings and a rate cut from the European Central Bank. The STOXX 600 logged its second weekly advance.

A rally in Chinese stocks, reacting to Beijing's latest demand-boosting policy steps, also bolstered investor sentiment.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 5.04 points, or 0.59%, to 857.11. The STOXX 600 index increased 0.21%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index climbed 4.81 points or 0.23%.

Emerging market stocks rose 19.59 points, or 1.73%, to 1,154.72.

U.S. Treasury yields fell as the market consolidated after recent increases, with participants adapting to a less dovish Fed in light of strong economic data. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 2.1 basis points to 4.075%.

The dollar dipped after five consecutive sessions of gains as risk appetite improved following Beijing's stimulus announcement, but was on track for its third consecutive weekly gain. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.28% to 103.49.

Front-month oil futures dropped, projected for the largest weekly decline since early September amid concerns about Chinese demand, as investors parsed the mixed outlook regarding the Middle East conflict. U.S. crude fell 2.05% to $69.22 a barrel, while Brent fell to $73.06 per barrel, down 1.87% on the day.

Gold prices surged past the $2,700 mark for the first time, benefiting from global uncertainties. Spot gold rose 1.01% to $2,719.75 an ounce.