12:46 PM EDT, 09/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark stock indexes gained in midday trading on Friday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite touching a fresh intraday high.

The Nasdaq traded up to 0.5% to 22,573.3, after scaling a new peak of 22,590.8 earlier in the session. The S&P 500 increased 0.3% to 6,650.4 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 46,276.0.

Technology led the gainers, while energy was the steepest decliner intraday.

US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping "made progress" on many issues, including trade, the need to end the Russia-Ukraine war and the approval of the TikTok deal, during a call Friday.

The Chinese leader urged Trump to refrain from imposing restrictive trade measures during the call, as the leaders of the world's two largest economies sought to ease tensions, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

In company news, Apple's ( AAPL ) iPhone 17 sales opened to strong demand for its Pro models, according to multiple media outlets. Across Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Australia and New Zealand, people queued up to pick up pre-booked models, while only iPhone Air was available on shelves, Bloomberg reported. Apple ( AAPL ) shares were up 3%.

FedEx ( FDX ) shares gained 2.7% in recent Friday trading after the company reported overnight that its fiscal Q1 non-GAAP net income rose to $3.83 per diluted share from $3.60 and revenue increased to $22.24 billion from $21.58 billion a year earlier.

The US 10-year Treasury yield rose 3.7 basis points to 4.14%. The two-year rate rose one basis point to 3.58%.

The ICE US Dollar Index was up 0.3% to 97.66.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.1% to $62.89 per barrel.

Gold was up 0.6% to $3,701.20 an ounce, and silver rose 2% to $42.96 per ounce.