Stocks rose on Friday as technology names continued their strong rally to cap off the best first half of the year for the Nasdaq Composite since 1983. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 280 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq added 1.2% and 1.5%, respectively.

Here's how the market settled to close out the week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY  ): +1.23% or +53.94 points to 4,450.38

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA  ): +0.84% or +285.18 points to 34,407.60

Nasdaq Composite Index (QQQ  ): +1.45% or +196.59 points to 13,787.92

Friday marked an important day on Wall Street, as the session marked the end of the month, second quarter and first half of the year. Here's how the three major averages performed after each gaining more than 2% for the week:

• For June: The Dow rose 4.6% for its best month since November, while the S&P 500 gained 6.5% to mark its best monthly performance since October. The Nasdaq outperformed the broader market, rising 6.6% to notch its fourth consecutive positive month.
• For Q2: The Nasdaq soared 12.8% for its second positive quarter in a row. The S&P 500 rose 8.3% for its third straight positive quarter and its largest quarterly advacne since the fourt hquarth of 2021. The Dow also notched its third-straight positive quarter, rising 3.4%.
• For H1: The Nasdaq outperformed, surging 31.7% for its best first half since 1983. The S&P 500 rose 15.9% for its best first half since 2019, while the Dow added 3.8%.

Like much of the first half of the year, mega-cap technology names soared higher on Friday, with Apple (AAPL  ) notably closing above a $3 trillion market cap for the first time. Other names like AI darling Nvidia (NVDA  ) rose nearly 4% on the day, bringing its yearly gains to more than 189%.

Driving positive momentum on Friday, the personal consumption expenditures price index rose by 0.3% in May on a core basis--which excludes prices on food and energy--falling below the 0.4% increase from April, according to the Commerce Department's report. On an annual basis, Core PCE increased 4.6%, ticking lower from April's reading of 4.7%.

Include food and energy prices, May's PCE rose 0.1% on the month and 3.8% year-over-year--both softened compared to April's print, with prices rising by 0.4% and 4.3%, respectively.

The inflation index showed prices rose 3.8% in May on a year-over-year basis, down from a 4.4% year-over-year jump in April. And from April to May, prices ticked up just 0.1%.

Separately, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment index rose to a reading of 64.4 in June, marking tis highest reading since February and increasing from May's final print of 59.2.

"This striking upswing reflects a recovery in attitudes generated by the early-month resolution of the debt ceiling crisis, along with more positive feelings over softening inflation," said Joanne Hsu, director of Surveys of Consumers, in a statement. "Views of their own personal financial situation were unchanged, however, as persistent high prices and expenses continued to weigh on consumers."

On the earnings front, Nike (NKE  ) shares fell 2.7% after the athletic apparel giant reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit for its fourth quarter. Nike's revenue increased 10% year-over-year to $51.2 billion for its full fiscal year. However, its profits for the full year came in below Wall Street expectations.

Looking ahead, Wall Street will have a holiday-shortened week, with markets closing at 1 p.m. ET on Monday and remaining closed on Tuesday in observance of the Fourth of July U.S. holiday.