U.S. stocks ended the week broadly higher, thanks to growing optimism about a debt-ceiling deal and a string of strong earnings reports from microchip makers that delivered a fifth straight weekly gain for the Nasdaq Composite, leaving it at a nine-month high.

Big tech companies helped keep the major U.S. stock indexes afloat Thursday, thanks in part to a blockbuster sales forecast from chip giantNvidia (NVDA), even as the rest of the market wallowed in the face of concerns about a potential national debt default. 

The ongoing debt-ceiling impasse weighed on U.S. stocks for a second day Wednesday, leaving the Dow Jones Industrial Average near a two-month low and the S&P 500® Index at its lowest level in a week.

The apparent lack of progress on the debt-ceiling negotiations weighed on stocks Tuesday, with the S&P 500® Index dropping to its lowest level in a week.

U.S. stocks were mixed Monday, though the Nasdaq Composite closing at fresh nine-month highs, as investors watched for debt ceiling news out of Washington, D.C.

Uncertainty over the debt ceiling negotiations weighed on U.S. stocks Friday, but major indexes such as the S&P 500®Indexand Nasdaq Composite were still higher for the week. 

Stronger-than-expected quarterly numbers from Walmart(WMT) and growing optimism over the debt-ceiling negotiations helped push the S&P 500® Index and the Nasdaq Composite to near nine-month highs Thursday, though the market has also started putting higher odds on another rate increase from the Federal Reserve in June.

U.S. stocks rallied late Wednesday, pushing the Nasdaq Composite index to its highest close in nearly nine months, thanks to easing concerns over the stability of regional banks and growing optimism about a potential debt ceiling deal.

The major U.S. stock indexes were lower Tuesday, with a disappointing forecast from economic bellwether Home Depot (HD) weighing down the Dow Jones Industrial Average as investors braced for another round of debt ceiling talks.  

The major U.S. stock indexes were up Monday—with the tech-focused Nasdaq up nearly half a percent, while the broad S&P 500® Index and blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average edged slightly higher—as investors prepared for a week full of portentous economic and company updates.