Stock Market Ends Week On A Positive Note; AI Stocks Lead Nasdaq As Two More Breakouts Emerge
Dec 19, 2025 17:35:00 -0500 by KEN SHREVEThe stock market closed out the week with a bullish session, recovering after Wednesday’s sell-off, as leading AI-related stocks and industry groups did most of the heavy lifting.
The Nasdaq composite led the way with a gain of 1.3% in higher volume as options expired on a quadruple-witching Friday. Semiconductor stocks outperformed again, boosting the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) by 2.6%. Nvidia (NVDA), which is still on a downtrend and below its 50-day line, jumped nearly 4% in higher volume.
The Russell 2000 added 0.8%, the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gain of 0.4% lagged other indexes. The blue-chip index was weighed down by an earnings sell-off for Nike (NKE).
Advancing stocks beat decliners on the Nasdaq exchange by nearly 3 to 2. Winners barely beat losers on the New York Stock Exchange.
Even with Friday’s strong gains, IBD’s exposure stays at 60% to 80%. Overall, growth stocks still look fine, but indexes need a little more work after Wednesday’s sell-off.
The distribution day count got a little smaller after Friday’s close, when the Nov. 13 distribution days fell off the count for the Nasdaq and S&P 500 due to the 25-day rule.
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF (FFTY) outperformed by rising nearly 4%, helped by a huge jump in Rocket Lab (RKLB), which surged nearly 18% and broke out of a cup-with-handle base. The buy point was 65.18.
The breakout comes on the heels of a successful Rocket Lab launch Thursday for the U.S. government, five months ahead of schedule. The company was also awarded a large contract Friday, worth just over $800 million, from the U.S. Space Development Agency for 18 missile warning and tracking vehicles.
Top-rated industry groups led the charge, with data storage and fiber-optic stocks among the strongest performers. Contract manufacturers, miners and gold stocks also outperformed.
Big leaders in the data storage group like Micron (MU) and Western Digital (WDC) are too far extended to consider buying. So are fiber-optic stocks like Lumentum (LITE) and Ciena (CIEN). But some contract manufacturers look a little better as they test their 10-week lines, including TTM Technologies (TTMI). Meanwhile, top-rated gold stocks like Triple Flag Precious Metals (TFPM) and Harmony Gold Mining (HMY) are still near buy points.
Palantir Technologies (PLTR) was skittish around a cup-with-handle buy point in light volume for a good part of the session. But the breakout gained traction late in the day. Shares jumped 4% in higher volume by the close. It’s still in the 5% buy zone from a 190.39 handle entry.
GE Aerospace (GE) also moved well Friday, rising nearly 2% in strong turnover. The stock continued a string of higher-volume gains in recent days as it sits less than 5% from an all-time high. A flat base shows a conventional entry of 316.67.
Follow Ken Shreve on X @IBD_KShreve for more stock market analysis and insight.
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