United States equities finished sharply higher on Friday, powered by a wave of optimism surrounding a blockbuster stock market debut for Elon Musk’s aerospace and artificial intelligence empire, SpaceX. Brushing aside recent sessions of intense market volatility, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 353 points, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite posted healthy gains of 0.5% and 0.31%, respectively. The broader market enthusiasm was fundamentally anchored by the blockbuster listing of SpaceX under the ticker symbol SPCX, which shattered records to deliver the largest initial public offering in global financial history.
Trading on the Nasdaq commenced at a steep premium of $150 per share, quickly eclipsing its pre-opening fixed price of $135 as institutional asset managers and retail investors aggressively scrambled for allocations. The stock climbed as high as $176 before finally settling at $160.95, representing a spectacular 19.2% single-day surge that catapulted the rocket maker’s total market capitalization past a historic $2.1 trillion. The financial windfall instantly minted thousands of new millionaires among corporate staff, while cementing Elon Musk’s legacy as the world’s very first trillionaire.
While the immense trading volume surrounding SpaceX drained liquidity from direct aerospace competitors—causing sharp double-digit drops for peers like Rocket Lab and Intuitive Machines—broader market sentiment was heavily supported by positive macroeconomic tailwinds. Investor appetite was further boosted by an encouraging rebound in US consumer sentiment and falling retail petrol prices, alongside reports of a potential diplomatic breakthrough regarding a US-Iran peace framework. With major index providers like FTSE Russell and Nasdaq fast-tracking “fast-entry” rules to sweep SpaceX into major passive funds within days, Wall Street analysts anticipate the mega-cap tech giant will anchor institutional portfolios for the foreseeable future
