S&P 500 closes at record on better-than-expected home sales and tech surge

• US equities erased early losses and climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing at a record high following positive economic data.
• Existing home sales surged a record 24.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.86 million. Economists expected a reading of 5.41 million.
• Apple led tech stocks higher and posted a record high ahead of its end-of-month stock split.
• Oil sank before retracing some losses. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 2.6%, to $41.46 per barrel.
• Watch major indexes update live here.

US stocks gained on Friday to close out a week that saw multiple major indexes hit records. The benchmark S&P 500 closed at an all-time high.

Major indexes erased early losses and gained through the day on positive economic data. US existing home sales posted a second-straight record jump on Friday, surging 24.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.86 million, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a jump to 5.41 million. Home sales have been bolstered by deferred demand and historically low mortgage rates.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Friday:

• S&P 500: 3,397.16, up 0.3%
• Dow Jones industrial average: 27,930.33, up 0.7% (191 points)
• Nasdaq composite: 11,311.80, up 0.4%

Read more: Steven Goldstein successfully played the market for 25 years before starting to coach traders who manage billions. Here are his 15 'golden' rules that helped him ensure investing success.

Tech stocks led indexes higher once again. Apple reached a record high ahead of a four-for-one stock split set to take place on August 31. Nvidia and AMD posted milder gains.

The agriculture giant Deere & Co. gained in early trading after beating quarterly estimates and raising its profit forecast.

Tesla posted a record high of its own just before a five-for-one stock split scheduled for August 28. The automaker surged above $2,000 per share in the previous session to become more valuable on a market cap basis than Walmart.

Read more: MORGAN STANLEY: Buy these 22 stocks that are slashing costs as sales take a hit from COVID-19 — putting them in position to smash the market as the economic recovery continues

Traders found early optimism in vaccine news from Pfizer and BioNTech. The companies said late Thursday that their experimental coronavirus vaccine could be sent to regulators for approval as early as October. They also said the latest study of the vaccine found fewer side effects than past trials.

Oil sank before paring some losses through the day. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 2.6%, to $41.46 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, dropped 2.9%, to $43.59 per barrel, at intraday lows.

The rally came after tech stocks similarly erased losses in Thursday trading. Investors got their latest sign of a weakening economic recovery on Thursday morning when the Labor Department said jobless claims climbed to 1.1 million last week; economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected a reading of 920,000.

Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:

ETF managers who target 2 of the market's hottest themes gave us inside looks into their investing approaches — including a gig economy strategy that is up 45% this year

It's probably too late to avoid negative economic growth in August, Bank of America says

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan joins 'blank-check company' craze with $300 million IPO, report says